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Weili Zhang will step inside the Octagon for just the fourth time when she challenges Jessica Andrade for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight title in the UFC Fight Night 157 main event on Saturday at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China. Zhang enjoyed a meteoric rise, and while she may not be known to the casual fan, she finds herself a win away from becoming the first Chinese champion in UFC history. She started with sanda and quickly transitioned to mixed martial arts after watching a jiu-jitsu practice. Because she trained in all aspects of hand-to-hand combat, she ranks as one of the more well-rounded fighters in the 115-pound weight class and does not seem to favor one particular style or game plan. Sometimes, she works patiently on the counter, and sometimes, she rushes forward with combinations or relies on her grappling skills.

Zhang steps into the spotlight in this edition of The Film Room.



Kicks remain the one constant in Zhang’s game -- a holdover from her sanda background. She always looks to attack the opponents’ legs and uses lots of step-inside kicks to the body to cover distance and back them down. Andrade is quite good at catching opponents kicks and countering with a lead hook, so it will be interesting to see if Zhang relies as much on her kicks as she has in the past.



Zhang is a patient and tactical striker who does her best work on the counter, so she intelligently limits how often she comes forward with combos. When she does come forward, Zhang is adept at mixing up her attacks from head to toe, which makes her less predictable. It would benefit her to be more aggressive in the future, but in this fight, she would be best served working on the counter, as it has become increasingly unlikely that anyone can outstrike Andrade in the pocket.



Zhang is at her best when stalking opponents and forcing reactions out that allow her counter. Similar to Andrade, she relies on her counter lead hook a bit too much, but overall, her counters are her bread and butter. Zhang will intentionally throw a sloppy no-setup kick hoping the opponent will attempt to counter so she can step back and land a counter of her own -- a subtle but brilliant tactic to get the opponent to come forward.



As mentioned, Zhang is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the UFC today and seems to put equal focus into striking and grappling. All of her takedowns come from the clinch, where she will simply grab a body lock and look to sweep the opponent’s feet. Andrade likes to clinch against the cage, so if Zhang wants this on the ground, it will be easy for her to move into her favorite position to do so.



Once on the ground, Zhang again shows her fully formed skills by putting equal focus into ground-and-pound, passing guard to improve position and submission attempts. She excels in the transitions. In fact, she almost always ends up in a dominant position after wild scrambles and is intelligent enough to open up the opponent with strikes before passing guard.



Instead of throwing everything with maximum effort at the risk of gassing out, Zhang will put on a constant pace of ground-and-pound that she can keep for the entire fight. Andrade has shown weaknesses on her back and tends to stall and hope for a standup instead of trying to escape, which could be a major key to victory for Zhang.



Zhang is known as a striker, but seven of her 19 wins have come by submission and she holds the rank of purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. In her second UFC fight with Jessica Aguilar, Zhang pulled off a slick triangle to armbar transition for the finish and proved she is just as dangerous on the ground as she is on the feet.