Fresh off the biggest win of her career at UFC 235 over Tecia Torres, Chinese powerhouse Weili Zhang finds herself in a title showdown with Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight queen Jessica Andrade. There's more to smile about, knowing she'll have a chance to win the belt on home soil as UFC Fight Night 157 takes place in Shenzhen, China.
This explosive headliner is expected to thrill fans as the numbers below would attest.
UFC Championship experience
Andrade captured the UFC strawweight championship after a Fight of the Night-winning performance against Rose Namajunas. Their UFC 237 bout ended with a vicious slam that knocked Namajunas out cold. It wasn’t her first attempt at earning UFC gold, however. Back at UFC 211, Andrade fought Joanna Jędrzejczyk for the same title. That time, the Polish dominated her and won a lopsided unanimous decision.For Zhang, this is the first time she’ll be gunning for a UFC title. The former Kunlun Fight and Top FC strawweight champion will look to add a UFC strap to her collection.
Stoppage rate
With seven knockouts and seven submissions out of her career 20 wins, Andrade owns a 70 percent finishing rate. Other than Namajunas, she has stopped some other tough opponents in the UFC as well. These include the likes of Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Joanne Calderwood, Jessica Penne and Larissa Pacheco.Zhang, meanwhile, owns nine knockouts and seven submissions, and with a total of 19 wins, registers an impressive 84 percent stoppage rate. Her lone stoppage victim in the UFC is Jessica Aguilar, whom she submitted in the first round at UFC Fight Night 141.
Striking accuracy
After 15 fights in the Octagon, Andrade has thrown 1977 significant strikes and landed 1020. That makes for a 52 percent striking accuracy, which is a little higher than Zhang's 47 percent. “Magnum” has landed 185 out of the 394 significant strikes she has attempted in three UFC fights.Her highest output was in her debut against Danielle Taylor at UFC 277. Andrade’s most in a single fight was at UFC Fight Night 30 when she landed 206 significant strikes on Rosi Sexton.
Takedown accuracy
The physically stronger Andrade has completed 33 out of her 56 takedown attempts, making for a 59 percent accuracy. That number is much higher than Zhang’s, who has only landed one takedown in 13 attempts, making her 31 percent accurate.There were only three fights in which Andrade didn’t score a single takedown. Meanwhile, her most in a single bout was at UFC on Fox 28 when she brought Tecia Torres to the ground 10 times.
Career losses
Zhang didn’t have a very strong start to her career as she lost to current One Championship fighter Meng Bo in her pro debut at an event called China MMA League back in 2013. But that remains the only blemish in her record. She has since racked up 19 straight victories, including three in the UFC.For Andrade, the road to a UFC title wasn’t a smooth one. Bumps came in the form of four defeats dealt by Liz Carmouche, Marion Reneau, Raquel Pennington and Jedrzejczyk. Outside of the UFC, she has bowed to Jennifer Maia and Kinberly Tanaka Novaes.