WATCH: Zhang Weili shows off insane kicking power ahead of UFC 261
UFC women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili has shown off her insane kicking power ahead of UFC 261.
After successfully defending her belt against Joanna Jędrzejczyk last year, Weili is back and ready to make a real statement to the rest of the division as she prepares to lock horns with Rose Namajunas.
It’ll serve as one of three title fights on this weekend’s insane UFC 261 card, which will also mark the return of fans to a full arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Many have questioned what kind of performance we’re going to see from Zhang after her time off. Based on this footage, we’d say she’s about as prepared as a human being can be before stepping inside the Octagon.
Zhang Weili will be tough to beat
There’s a real resilience and endurance behind Zhang Weili's work both in training and inside the cage that would strike fear into the hearts of most who go up against her.
Of course, we saw Joanna Champion come close to beating her, but the fact that she didn’t get her hand raised will prove to the world that it’s going to take an awful lot to beat someone like Weili.
Rose Namajunas is a tough competitor and has proven herself to be a formidable force in the past, but whether she’s ready for this challenge is a different matter altogether.
We all know this is a rivalry that has intensified quite dramatically in recent days due to comments made by Namajunas. But Zhang Weili clearly has one thing on her mind - retaining the title by doing whatever it takes to win.
That’s the sort of motivation you need in this game and Weili is more motivated than 95% of champions we’ve seen prior to a bout of this magnitude.
The main event of the evening at UFC 261 will be Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal 2. But in many ways, it feels as if Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas is the people’s main event.
It’s the strawweight clash the MMA universe has been waiting for and we can’t wait to see how it develops.