Zhang Weili's next opponent is finalized!
On May 17, UFC President Dana Bai announced that UFC 292 will defend the title of Chinese women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili against Amanda Lemos, which will be held in Boston, USA, on August 20 this year.
Zhang Weili faces Amanda Lemos on August 20.
"Chinese derby" left for China?
Not long ago, China's Yan Xiaonan won Andrade, and at that time "UFC China derby" became a hot word.
Yan Xiaonan expressed his desire to challenge Zhang Weili, and Bai Dana also confessed that he was happy to see such a showdown... But when Amanda Lemus surfaced, it was a bit surprising.
After Yan Xiaonan's last match, her individual ranking rose to strawweight third, in front of her only Esparza and Ross ranked higher, fourth is Amanda Lemos, and in the P4P ranking, Yan Xiaonan is in the top ten, Lemos is twelfth.
From the ranking point of view, Lemos does not seem to have priority, but for Bai Dana, the determination of each game will consider comprehensive factors, and ranking does not determine everything.
For example, Esparza and Ross are ranked higher, but if you want to choose a challenger at the moment, it can almost only be produced from Yan Xiaonan and Lemos.
Currently Esparza is pregnant and is expected to give birth in September, and it is impossible to return to the competition in a short time; Rose in second place has been a bit interested in preparing for the tournament for a long time, and the market is not optimistic about the player who plays smart but not hot enough.
As for why he chose Lemos, maybe Bai Da took the next big chess game.
Zhang Weili regained the belt in November last year, after the first period of adjustment, it is time to defend the title - rumored to be that the UFC hopes to hold a tournament in China this year, most likely in December, but whether from the market or the athletes' own condition, it is not appropriate for Zhang Weili to wait for more than a year.
It is worth mentioning that at the press conference after Yan Xiaonan's victory over Andrade, he privately said that he was noncommittal about Yan Xiaonan's next event arrangement, "I didn't think about how to arrange her next..."
But in fact, Bai Dana may have already had a plan in his heart, after all, leaving the "Chinese derby" to the Chinese race is a more hot arrangement.
The match between Yan Xiaonan (left) and Zhang Weili may be arranged later.
An explosive showdown
Some people may ask, once Zhang Weili's competition goes wrong, won't it have an impact on the potential box office and attention of the Chinese competition?
Bai Dana is a businessman, of course, he knows the market value of a Chinese star player, and being able to make such an arrangement, in addition to the factor that athletes need to compete as soon as possible, it can also be seen that Bai Dana is full of confidence in Zhang Weili's strength - defeating an overseas player first can further enhance the heat of the competition.
Taking a step back, if Reimos can grab the belt, Bai Dana can also promote a "revenge battle" in China, whether it is Zhang Weili or Yan Xiaonan, there is a great chance to stand in the octagon.
In this way, Bai Dana is more familiar with the operation and packaging of the event than anyone, and he knows that for Chinese audiences, the eyeball effect of "revenge battle" will not be inferior to that of "Chinese derby".
Now back to challenger Lemos, as a strawweight ranking fighter, she has a 16-13 victory. He TKO another star Rodriguez last November, at the time it was also considered a championship qualification match.
It can be said that it is not "out of line" for Leimos to get the challenge opportunity at the moment, and in the eyes of UFC star and champion Sejudo, who has coached Zhang Weili, Leimos is even more threatening to Zhang Weili than Ross.
"Remus has the ability to strike hard, and there will be an explosive duel between her and Willy."