Zhang Weili

Zhang Weili will be carrying the hopes of an entire continent when she steps into the Octagon with Carla Esparza in the co-main event of UFC 281 this Saturday in New York City.

It's a scenario the 33-year-old Chinese fighter knows well.

In 2019, she made history as the first Asian-born fighter to win a UFC title, with a 42-second stoppage of strawweight champion Jessica Andrade. That stunning victory, which went down in front of a raucous crowd in the Chinese port city of Shenzhen, not only gave MMA a huge popularity boost in China, but across all of Asia. It inspired young fighters all over the continent to set their sights on the sport's biggest stages.

Zhang lost the title to Rose Namajunas one year later, but she will look to reclaim it when she takes on Esparza in New York City. If she's successful, she will once again invigorate fans and fighters all across Asia.

"Before I got the belt, we all thought of UFC as too far away from us," Zhang told B/R on Tuesday. "It wasn’t our sport. We didn’t believe Asian people could win UFC championships. But since I got the belt, people see this is our sport. We can be champions. We can be at the top of the sport. Having an Asian UFC champion built our confidence in the sport."

Zhang's influence on the Asian MMA scene can't be understated. She has millions of followers on her various social media channels—the bulk of them on the Chinese platform Weibo—and has inked endorsement deals with corporate giants like Pepsi and Audi. In terms of mainstream appeal, she is easily the biggest MMA star to emerge from Asia to date.

Yet the former champion rejected the opportunity to boast about her massive influence on the Asian MMA scene, conceding only that she helped change the way people view the sport across the continent.

"I think through me, the fans know more about MMA and know more about the warrior spirit of this sport," she said.

"Before, their understand of this sport was very shallow—it was just pure violence—but because of me and other athletes in the Octagon, they see the warrior spirit, the martial artist’s spirit."

The MMA industry in Asia has grown in tandem with Zhang—not just in terms of the sport's popularity, but infrastructure. The continent is home to a number of important MMA promotions such as ONE Championship and Rizin Fighting Federation, along with an increasing number of high-level training facilities, from the UFC's new Performance Institute in Shanghai, China, to Bali MMA in Indonesia, to Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA in the combat sports hotbed of Phuket, Thailand.

Bangtao just opened its doors in April, but it has already established itself as a state-of-the-art training destination, having received a visit—and some high praise–from UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

It has also been one of Zhang's main training homes since it opened, first for her stunning June knockout victory over Joanna Jędrzejczyk in Singapore, and also for her imminent fight with Esparza.

"I started training in Bangtao in April of this year, for the Joanna fight," she said. "Right after that I came back to Phuket from Singapore and kept training there with the coaches at Bangtao. Then I came to Vegas in September.

"The environment, the atmosphere of training at Bangtao is excellent because the gym is in a quiet very place and everything I did in everyday life—training, living in my apartment, physiotherapy—are on the same street. It’s very convenient. Everything is very convenient there, which allows me to focus on training. That’s why I chose Bangtao."

MMA gyms are not a new feature in Thailand. The country has long been home to highly regarded facilities like Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket and Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya. But Bangtao's quick rise to prominence is evidence of MMA's increasing popularity in Asia. There are more and more gyms opening all across the continent, which means there are not only more fighters emerging from the region, but better ones.

The UFC has looked to capitalize on this trend with its Road to UFC series, which kicked off in June and has seen fighters in the flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions vying for contracts with the promotion, with countries like China, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines represented.

The program will funnel some exciting new Asian talent into the UFC—and Zhang suspects that will only be the beginning.

"UFC launched Road to UFC this year," she said. "We can see the sport developing rapidly in Asia. The quality is getting better and better."

"MMA as a sport is getting bigger and bigger in Asia," she added. "You can see more and more fighters from Asia signed by the UFC."

While the MMA industry in Asia is healthier than it's ever been, Zhang reclaiming the strawweight title would almost certainly take the sport to new heights on the continent.

Oddsmakers believe she'll pull it off—DraftKings lists her as a -330 favorite—and Zhang understands their confidence.

"I think it’s because of my performance in the Joanna fight," she said. "I showed I can do everything in the Octagon. I’m more well-rounded than Carla. I think that’s why I’m the big favourite in this matchup."

Esparza, who won the title with a controversial split-decision defeat of Rose Namajunas in May, is a two-time champion. She was the division's first titleholder.

Zhang respects her opponent and everything she has accomplished in the Octagon, even if she finds her game a bit predictable.

"She is the inaugural champion of my division, and after eight years, she won the belt again," she said. "I think her story is very motivating to everybody. I respect her as a fighter and I love her story."

"Everybody knows she’s a wrestler. Everybody knows what she’s going to do in the Octagon: wrestle and take you down."

Still, the Chinese star expects to finish the champion in New York City—much to the elation of the countless fans and fighters all over Asia watching her fights over breakfast and coffee on Sunday morning.

"I don’t think this fight goes five rounds," she said.

Awards are always tough to parse in MMA. Every card has its own highlight reel, big finishes and title-picture implications.

In MMA, there’s no such thing as a Wizards-Pacers game in mid-February. Some cards are certainly better than others, but there are no total throwaways.

Even though we’re only halfway through 2022, there are plenty of worthy award winners to choose from. We did our best to winnow it down for these, our midyear MMA honorees.

We chose winners in four categories: best fighter, best fight, best knockout and best submission. Extra points go to higher-stakes matchups. We’ve identified a few honorable mentions for each category alongside the outright winner.

Submission of the Year: Tom Aspinall def. Alexander Volkov via Straight Armbar

Division: Heavyweight
Event: UFC Fight Night 204
Date: March 19
Official Result: Tom Aspinall def. Alexander Volkov by straight armbar, 3:45, Rd. 1

Serious fans and supporters across the pond knew plenty about Tom Aspinall before this London fight card. Afterward, the Englishman was well-known to just about everyone else too.

The remarkably light-on-his-feet Aspinall (12-2) is a formidable finisher, having stopped all four of his UFC opponents heading into London. But this main event marked his toughest test to date, with the rangy and battle-tested Russian Alexander Volkov (35-10) waiting for him across the canvas.

So it was a bit of a shocker when Aspinall made such short work of him.

Aspinall's movement was on full display as he evaded big shots from Volkov while using fast hands to land big combinations. A takedown led to an extended bout of top control for Aspinall, which he used to pound Volkov's head with elbows, busting the Russian wide open.

Volkov managed to struggle back to his feet, but he was clearly diminished. Aspinall hit another takedown, and this time he got his man. The straight armbar is a rare bird in MMA, but Aspinall made it look easy. Volkov’s elbow visibly hyperextended, and a frantic tapout quickly ensued.

With the win, the 29-year-old Aspinall put himself in the title picture at heavyweight, where he now sits at No. 6 on the official rankings. He has a fight scheduled in July with fourth-ranked Curtis Blaydes, who has the kind of wrestling that could stifle Aspinall’s submission game. Emphasis on could.

Honorable Mentions:

- Charles Oliveira chokes out Justin Gaethje
- Jiri Prochazka takes light heavyweight title with rear-naked-choke finish of Glover Texeira
- Aleksei Oleinik def. Jared Vanderaa with a scarf hold
- Claudio Puelles kneebars Clay Guida
- Oliver Enkamp pulls off “buggy choke” on Mark Lemminger at Bellator 281

Knockout of the Year: Zhang Weili Retires Joanna Violence with a Spinning Backfist

Division: Strawweight
Event: UFC 275
Date: June 11
Official Result: Zhang Weili def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk by KO (spinning backfist), 2:28, Rd. 2

With the winner promised a title shot, there was plenty on the line when Weili (22-3) and Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-5) stepped into the cage at UFC 275 in Singapore.

Returning to action after more than two years away, ring rust was in evidence for Jedrzejczyk. Still, it came as a shock when Weili uncorked a spinning backfist that landed flush across Jedrzejczyk’s jaw.

It’s rare to see a spinning backfist landed with such accuracy, not to mention landing hard enough to score a full-throttle, one-shot knockout. But there was no doubt about it; Jedrzejczyk collapsed to the canvas like a bag of potting soil.

It was over so quickly that it almost felt like a disappointment. Their previous meeting, a split-decision victory for Weili, earned widespread acclaim as arguably the best fight in women’s MMA history.

After the bout, the 34-year-old Jedrzejczyk announced her retirement from the sport, expressing a desire to focus on family and business interests. It was a bit of an unceremonious exit, but the former champ still leaves behind a strong legacy.

Despite Weili's win, current champ Carla Esparza has met her callout with a cool reception. Can you blame her? Weili is one of the most dangerous female fighters on the planet today.

Honorable Mentions:

- Michael Chandler melts Tony Ferguson with a front kick
- Molly McCann lands spinning back elbow on Luana Carolina
- Shavkat Rakhmonov plants a spinning hook kick on Carlston Harris
- Jamahal Hill crushes Johnny Walker
- Tai Tuivasa’s elbow knockout of Derrick Lewis

Fight of the Year: Jiri Prochazka Defeats Glover Teixeira, Takes Title in Instant Classic

Division: Light Heavyweight
Event: UFC 275
Date: June 11
Official Result: Jiri Prochazka def. Glover Teixeira by submission (rear-naked choke), 4:32, Rd. 5

You don’t have to take my word for it. Take it from the official UFC stats.

Prochazka and Teixeira combined to land 231 significant strikes. Their accuracy rates—68 percent for defending champ Teixeira, 58 percent for the challenger—were sky high, especially for such volume. For comparison’s sake, Jon Jones leads all active light heavyweights in this category with 57.9 percent accuracy.

Precious few leg kicks in this one, with both men hammering to the head and body. Each fighter connected on 12 body shots apiece. Who doesn't love a good body shot?

In a literal nod to the back-and-forth nature of the fight, the two men combined for six positional reversals. In the fourth, Teixeira, who racked up nearly 10 minutes of total control time, appeared to wrest away the advantage by spending about half the round in a dominant position, as Prochazka was seemingly gassed.

I had the same scorecard as judge Ben Cartlidge up until the stoppage. Not sure what Clemens Werner was thinking. 10-8 Jiri in the third round? He's on an island with that one. Same judge that had 49-46 Shevchenko. Jiri needed a finish to win the belt and he got it. Wow. #UFC275 https://t.co/dy76mcHwy1

— Adam Martin (@MMAdamMartin) June 12, 2022

The bout was already an instant classic heading into the fifth, with both men exhausted and bleeding. Teixeira rocked Prochazka with right hooks early, but instead of following up with more shots, he jumped for the guillotine choke, which went begging.

In the bout’s final minute, Prochazka snatched victory—and the belt—from the jaws of defeat, sinking in a rear-naked choke, which he cinched without even getting his hooks in. It was an honorable defeat for the 42-year-old Teixeira, the oldest first-time champ in UFC history, and a star-making turn for the new champion.

It was perhaps the best title fight in the storied history of the light heavyweight division. If another bout is going to unseat this one for Fight of the Year, I can’t wait to see it.

Honorable Mentions:

- Deiveson Figueiredo recaptures flyweight title from Brandon Moreno
- Gilbert Burns gives Khamzat Chimaev all he can handle
- Calvin Kattar wins high-output slugfest with Giga Chikadze
- Clay Collard pulls the shocker over Jeremy Stephens at PFL 1
- Matt Frevola shuts down Genaro Valdez in one frenetic round

Fighter of the Year: Charles Oliveira

Division: Lightweight
2022 Record: 1-0
Result: Charles Oliveira def. Justin Gaethje by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:22, Rd. 1

This one’s a little tougher than the others, given that most claimants have only one fight to their name so far in 2022. Even so, with apologies to Francis Ngannou and Alex Volkanovski, Charles Oliveira stands out as the most deserving.

Even with UFC lightweight gold wrapped around his waist, people just seemed to continue sleeping on Oliveira. So it's fitting in a way that Oliveira had to lose the title to gain a new level of respect.

It certainly didn't start out that way. The haters got a dose of fresh meat before Oliveira’s May 7 showdown with Gaethje, one of the most dangerous head-hunters on the UFC roster.

As most fans will recall, Oliveira missed weight by a half-pound before the event. It was just a half-pound, but the rules are the rules, and Oliveira was stripped of his title. This was not the first time the Brazilian had struggled to make weight, though his previous misses came down at featherweight.

Not exactly Fighter of the Year stuff there. But what he did in the cage that Saturday night more than made up for it.

Both men landed early, with Oliveira’s chin holding up surprisingly well. While Gaethje fired leg kicks and sought a home for his curtain-closing left hook, Oliveira responded with volume. Both men landed an identical 63 percent of their significant strikes, but Oliveira landed 33 shots to Gaethje’s 21.

In the latter half of the fight, Oliveira hit a takedown—a rarity for Gaethje, who is known for stiff defensive wrestling. That defensive wrestling couldn’t save him on the ground, where Oliveira quickly set to work positioning himself for a submission. The end came at 3:22 of the first round.

Oliveira is so good that one prominent fighter recently suggested that retired lightweight GOAT Khabib Nurmagomedov might have walked away in part out of fear of Oliveira. I don’t know about that, but the fact that it wasn’t universally dismissed as absurd says a lot about Oliveira’s greatness.

The champ is the all-time UFC leader in finishes with 19 and submissions with 16. He’s on an 11-fight win streak. He’ll fight to regain his lost belt in his next bout, which has yet to be announced. Oliveira has consistently called for a big-dollar scrap with Conor McGregor. Dagestani destroyer Islam Makhachev would present a daunting test.

But if Charlie Olives keeps going at this pace, no opponent—other than maybe the scale—can stand in his way.

Honorable Mentions:

- Alexander Volkanovski
- Deiveson Figueiredo
- Jiri Prochazka
- Zhang Weili
- Francis Ngannou
- Jamahal Hill
- Tom Aspinall