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Thread: Zhang Weili

  1. #31
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    This article was pre-fight...

    ...but it shows why I adore Zhang. She's a bannerwoman for Kung Fu.

    UFC 248: Chinese champ Zhang Weili has conquered the world, but home is where the heart is
    Hailing from Handan, a city famous for fighters and steeped in martial arts history, Zhang has been spoiling for a fight from an early age
    But she admits it’s been hard not to get swept up in the hype of being China’s first UFC champion, as she prepares for first title defence in Las Vegas
    Mathew Scott
    Published: 2:24pm, 7 Mar, 2020


    UFC women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili, of China, arrives for the UFC 248 ceremonial weigh-in at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Photo: AP

    The bright lights of Las Vegas have beckoned Zhang “Magnum” Weili ever since the Chinese fighter created history last August by becoming her country’s first UFC world champion.
    A place, front and centre, on the biggest stage there is in combat sports is due reward for anyone who reaches the pinnacle of MMA and come Saturday (Sunday, Asia time) at the T-Mobile Arena, the world will turn to Zhang (20-1) as she defends her title against a former champ in Poland’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3).
    Since her stunning 42-second TKO of Brazil’s Jessica Andrade to take the UFC’s strawweight belt in Shenzhen, Zhang has been in constant demand, touring the globe greeting the public and the media. But, she says, whenever the adulation – and the rising tide of fame and fortune – have become too much, she has one place where her thoughts return for comfort, and a due dose of reality.
    Home.



    “I come from Handan and the city is famous for fighters,” Zhang says. “People know what the life of a fighter can be like so I have support always from my parents and my friends.”
    Handan is situated in China’s northern province of Hebei and is home to around 9.5 million people, although Zhang still refers to the place as a “small town” which says much of the size of things in a nation of some 1.4 billion.
    The city is steeped in martial arts history, with the native crafts of t'ai chi and wushu, kung fu and sanda (Chinese kick-boxing) practised daily by a fair swathe of its population and the tales of its own legends, down through the ages, shared in the schools and out on the playgrounds.
    “Everybody in Handan worships martial arts,” Zhang says. “Everybody wants to be strong. Old people, young people, everybody is doing some kind of tai chi or wrestling. So the development for fighters is amazing. This has gone on for thousands of years and Handan is famous for fighters.”
    The Zhang origin story has her spoiling for a fight from an early age, projecting her fellow female classmates from the bully boys before turning her attentions to the more disciplined regimes of sanda and shuai jiao (Chinese wrestling).


    Zhang Weili faces off with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at the UFC 248 ceremonial weigh-ins.

    Despite Handan’s history, Zhang’s family weren’t keen on their daughter becoming a fighter by trade, pushing her towards more “respectable” pursuits such as teaching, despite the fact her mother had put the young Zhang through a “toughening up” regime during her formative years. That included making Zhang jump up out of holes dug into the ground – exercises from which she developed the core strength that these days powers her game.
    But Zhang kept training on the sly before making the leap into MMA – with what remains her only loss, a decision loss after two rounds to compatriot Meng Bo (14-5) back in 2013. Since then it’s been 20-0, and a 4-0 run in the UFC that took her to the title.
    China knew what was coming, but the world has been a little slower to catch on. Still, as Zhang’s reputation grew across the Chinese MMA community, back home in Handan she found she could still escape to relative anonymity.


    Zhang Weili on stage at the UFC 248 ceremonial weigh-ins. Photo: Amy Kaplan

    “I thought that everybody knows me, since way back when I became regional champion,” Zhang says. “But I don’t hang out a lot. There are many fighters in Handan and a lot of my parents’ friends didn’t even know that I was their daughter. This helps make life real for me and keeps my feet on the ground.
    “A few years ago my parents had a worker in to fix our water heating and he was telling them they should check out this Zhang Weili as he heard that she came from near their home and she was a very good fighter. He asked them ‘Do you know her?’ And they laughed and told him. So I can never get too big for Handan.”
    Zhang readily admits that it has at times been hard not to get swept up in the hype that surrounds any world champ, not least when you are your nation’s first in the UFC.


    Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, of Poland, poses on the scale during the ceremonial weigh-in for UFC 248. Photo: AP

    In the lead-up to Saturday’s first title defence, the pressure, the sense of expectation, has been building, made seemingly more claustrophobic by events that are out of Zhang’s control.
    With the normal secure regime of fight camp destroyed by the rise of the coronavirus in China, Zhang shifted camp twice – to Thailand and then Abu Dhabi – as she was made to sweat on news of whether she’d even be allowed to enter the US.
    This week in Vegas, with now only the fight ahead to worry about, Zhang admits she at times lost sight of the bigger picture of what has been going on around the world this year. But then, as always, her thoughts turned to home.
    “When I was in Abu Dhabi I became super upset and I called my mum,” Zhang says. “She said remember in China we are combating the coronavirus. Think about those doctors and nurses and patients. Think of them in combat on the front lines fighting this disease. You are just in an unfamiliar place. Your job is much easier, don’t complain. Then I realised I am not alone. Everybody has their fights. So I think this victory is for us all. Now nothing can shake me.”
    This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: home is where the heart is for UFC star Zhang
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  2. #32
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    Iron Man & Magnum

    I wonder if Robert met Weili. That would be a cool photo op.

    Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. attends UFC 248, big fan of Chinese martial art Wing Chun
    Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/10 17:33:43 1


    Robert Downey Jr. Photo: VCG

    It seems Iron Man is a big fan of Chinese martial art Wing Chun. Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. was caught on camera showing off some of his Wing Chun moves during the bout between UFC Women's Strawweight champion Zhang Weili and former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 on Saturday when he showed off some of his Wing Chun moves. On Monday Downey posted a video of himself at the event on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo along with a post in which he called the battle between the two a classic and congratulated both fighters. Chinese netizens were surprised to see that Downey has studied Wing Chun, which is based on traditional Southern Chinese martial arts. "Iron Man knows Wing Chun! If he had used Wing Chun to fight Thanos, it would have been much easier to beat the enemy," one netizen commented on Sina Weibo. Some netizens speculated that the star became interested in Chinese martial arts due to the release of this year's Ip Man 4: The Finale, a film about the legendary Win Chun master Yip Man. But actually, Downey has been studying Wing Chun for more than 10 years. He started practicing the martial art in 2003. According to a report from sohu.com, his teacher is one of the students of Zhang Zhuoqing, Yip's favorite pupil. According to the report, Downey practices Wing Chun three to five times each week and says that it successfully diverted his attention from drugs and helped him develop healthy habits. "Wing Chun cannot only help maintain your physique, but can make you more stable, more modest and more relaxed with others," he said. Zhang, who had successfully defended her title against Jedrzejczyk, replied to Downey on Sina Weibo, saying she hopes that he enjoyed the competition.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #33
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    Here's another pre-fight article...

    ...the 'official' one from UFC.



    ZHANG WEILI FOUND HER VOICE IN MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
    A pair of epiphanies led Zhang Weili to UFC gold and her first title defense against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
    BY THOMAS GERBASI, ON TWITTER @TGERBASI • MAR. 5, 2020

    Zhang Weili calls it “an epiphany,” and oh, what a time it was to have one.

    One punch from UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade already came perilously close to her chin in their championship bout in Shenzhen last August, and another was on the way. It was in that moment that Zhang realized what her coaches had been telling her all along.

    “I had a very clear head in the Octagon,” she recalled. “When her first punch scraped my face, I realized my chin was a bit high, so on her second punch I lowered my chin. Then I had an epiphany: Your chin has to be low if you’re on an attack. If your chin is high, your body can’t attack.”

    Zhang lowered her chin. Then she attacked. And at 42 seconds of the first round, the 30-year-old native of Hebei became the first UFC champion from China. Then the madness began.

    UFC

    @ufc
    :4️⃣2️⃣

    All Zhang needed to become the first Chinese champion 🏆🇨🇳 #UFC248

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    “The first month or so after I got my championship belt, I was super busy,” said Zhang, and that’s not surprising considering she comes from a nation of over 1.4 billion people. “It was the busiest month of my life. My schedule was filled with constant interviews and photoshoots for media, so many of them. At one point I had to speak non-stop from early morning until midnight. And I just couldn’t speak anymore. It was so much more exhausting than training. (Laughs) At that moment I realized that training is such a blessing.”

    It always has been for Zhang, a self-proclaimed “quiet kid” who found her voice in the gym, first in Sanda, then mixed martial arts.

    “It dawned on me that after training martial arts and MMA, I became more confident,” she said. “I found something that I was really passionate about, that I feel really strong about. When I watched movies about fighting, when I watched them training, I’d get excited. This is my passion.”

    That passion was expected to remain a hobby, though, as there were few opportunities on the big stage of MMA for male athletes in China, let alone women. And when an injury sidelined Zhang for five years, it looked like the end arrived before it began. It was an opinion supported by her parents.

    “At first they were (supportive),” said Zhang. “But then I got injured and retired, so I stopped training for five years. They were convinced that girls should go to school, since I got injured a lot. But after I got a job, I worked with MMA and my passion in this was ignited again. So I told my family to allow me three years. If I could make it, I will. If not, I won’t regret it. They agreed and they’re more than supportive right now.”

    UFC

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    * MIC'D UP *

    🎤 Listen in as the champ and challenger bring the HEAT! #UFC248

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    There was still a long way to go. Yet in 2013, six years before she struck gold in Shenzhen, Zhang had her first epiphany when Ronda Rousey defeated Liz Carmouche in the first women’s bout in UFC history. Now she had something concrete to shoot for and she let everybody know.

    “The moment I decided to go pro, I was aiming for the UFC,” said Zhang. “I was sure of it. Back in 2013, I posted on social media that as long as I hold on to my dream and keep challenging the great fighters, I will end up in the Octagon of the UFC. I had faith in myself even back then. And I had always aimed for the championship. When I told others about my dream, everyone assumed I was kidding. But ever since then, I’ve been working hard for my dream.”

    Last August, the dream became a reality, but Zhang hasn’t stopped dreaming. Now, it’s a quest to keep the belt, one that begins this weekend when she faces former 115-pound champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. It’s a fight Zhang was thinking of even before Jedrzejczyk knew who she was.

    “When Joanna was still the champion, I watched her fights when I was still fighting domestically, and I set my mind on fighting with her and taking the belt from her,” she said. “But now it’s the other way around. She’s trying to take the belt from me. And I’ve always thought that we’d meet in a fight. I think she’s an opponent who deserves to be respected.”

    That doesn’t mean Zhang will sit idly by for any trash talk from her opponent.

    “I know who she is,” said the champion of her challenger. “It’s all part of her tactic to curse and make you angry before going to the fight. I won’t take her seriously. I know she’s just acting. I won’t curse her. In Chinese culture, one does not curse to show her attitude. I will show her my attitude with my punches.”

    And by the time Saturday night turns into Sunday morning, Zhang expects to still have her title intact.

    “This championship belt is past tense for her,” said Zhang. “She should live with that.”
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  4. #34
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    about that hematoma...

    Gotta give Joanna props for taking that shot and not going down.

    Joanna Jedrzejczyk set for surgery in Poland for hematoma suffered in UFC 248 fight
    By Cole Shelton -March 12, 2020


    Imag via @joannajedrzejczyk on Instagram

    Joanna Jedrzejczyk will have surgery in Poland to help the swelling go down from the hematoma she sustained in her UFC 248 fight.

    In the co-main event, Jedrzejczyk was fighting Weili Zhang for the strawweight belt. She was looking to reclaim the title after losing it to Rose Namajunas back in 2017. Yet, after a hard-fought five rounds, where many consider it to be one of the best fights of all-time it was Zhang who won a split-decision.

    Not only did she lose but Jedrzejczyk sustained a massive hematoma which was one of the worst in recent memory. And, not even one week after the fight, she says it is getting much better and the swelling on her forehead has gone down.

    “My whole face is bruised but there’s no more swelling on my forehead,” Jedrzejczyk said to TMZ Sports. “It’s more on my face, and like my neck. It’s going down, but it’s much better.”

    Although the swelling has gone down, Joanna Jedrzejczyk says she is set for surgery on Monday in Poland. She will get the swelling down from that and start her recovery process.

    “I scheduled surgery in Poland with the best plastic surgeon, so it’s all good. On Monday, I’ll have a small medical procedure on my ear and the swelling will go down and I will be ready to rock and roll go on some nice date. It is nothing serious,” she said. “UFC is always taking good care of us.”

    The former champ has said she is interested in fighting Zhang again. But, she will no doubt need time off after the war the two women went through at UFC 248.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  5. #35
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    More on Ma

    Ma Baoguo’s opponent ‘scared’ before KO’ing tai chi master in 30 seconds – and had to pay to fight
    Wang Qingmin tells local media he used Chinese kung fu style to knock out 69-year-old tai chi master in first interview since viral fight
    Amateur boxer has received no prize money and paid US$92 to fight Ma, who reportedly earned US$28,000 for 30-second bout

    Jonathan White
    Published: 10:48am, 27 May, 2020
    Updated: 11:29am, 27 May, 2020

    However, Wang said he beat Ma with a traditional Chinese kung fu style. He was registered as an MMA fighter but used the Chinese style of Xing Yi Quan, rather than Western martial arts as media reported.

    Referee asked tai chi master Ma Baoguo to show mercy before embarrassing 30-second KO
    Pre-fight footage emerges on Chinese social media showing referee expected tai chi master to deliver a one-sided beat down
    Referee appeals to 69-year-old to show mercy to his opponent – ‘when I say stop, you can’t continue to hit him’


    Jonathan White
    Published: 4:02pm, 21 May, 2020
    Updated: 6:25pm, 21 May, 2020




    A still from the video of tai chi master Ma Baoguo (right) talking to the referee ahead of his embarrassing 30-second knockout. Photo: Hupu

    The knockout of 69-year-old tai chi master Ma Baoguo by a former martial arts coach 20 years his junior in Shandong has been watched around the world, with fans in China and overseas ridiculing the older man for taking on the challenge.
    Ma was knocked down twice before being knocked out within 30 seconds and taken to hospital, where he recovered and has since left.
    However, footage from before the fight that shows a conversation between Ma and the fight referee shared on Chinese social media seems to indicate that they were expecting the fight to be one-sided the other way.
    The referee apparently appeals to Ma to show mercy to his opponent, telling him three times: “I have just one requirement, when I say stop you have to stop, you can’t continue to hit him.”

    Ma for his part warned the referee ahead of the fight, “I am afraid of my [tai chi] routine hurting you” to which the referee replied, “I am not afraid”.

    As it was, they were right about it being a one-sided fight.



    Ma had built a reputation for outlandish statements, calling UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili “stupid” and claiming that he could beat her in a fight.
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  6. #36
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    China rising



    The UFC Stars Kicking Chinese Martial Arts Into a New Era
    The breakout success of Chinese fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is shaking up the country’s martial arts scene.

    Mathew Scott
    Feb 22, 2021 9-min read

    Li Jingliang has spent more than a decade establishing himself as an elite fighter in the world of mixed martial arts, with an explosive style and vice-like choke holds that earned him the nickname “The Leech.” But outside the cage is where the 32-year-old makes his biggest impact.

    “As well as fighting, what I’m trying to do is change the landscape of MMA in China,” Li tells Sixth Tone. “Little by little, step by step, I’m letting people know what I know.”

    Now ranked 12th in his division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — the highest rank achieved by a male Chinese athlete in the promotion — the welterweight born in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has emerged as a star with real clout in China.

    The charismatic fighter has acquired millions of followers on social media, appeared on TV talent shows, and even performed with rock bands. And he’s using this platform with one goal in mind: to inspire a new generation of Chinese mixed martial artists.

    What I’m trying to do is change the landscape of MMA in China.
    - Li Jingliang, UFC fighter
    Li’s feeds are filled with training videos explaining MMA and encouraging people to try it out. Each Saturday, he’s in a park near his Beijing home, running free sparring classes for local children.

    “Martial arts is rooted in our culture,” Li says. “I’m giving these kids a basic understanding of martial arts, and of mixed martial arts. I’ve committed myself to this and being seen in public is part of that. It’s spreading the message.”

    Li is part of a rising generation of Chinese fighters reshaping the UFC. They’re not only bringing legions of new fans to the sport, but also forging links between the worlds of MMA and Chinese martial arts that could turn China into a leading producer of fighting talent over the next few years.

    MMA is often considered the world’s fastest-growing sport. Emerging in the early ’90s, it sees fighters compete using a mix of different combat skills, with techniques drawn from the likes of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling, and muay thai.

    But until relatively recently, MMA and its most famous franchise — the UFC — had barely made a dent in the Chinese market. Despite the country’s rich martial arts history and huge grassroots participation in combat sports, few Chinese fighters had heard of the UFC just a decade ago — let alone aspired to compete in it.


    Zhang Tiequan celebrates after defeating Jason Reinhardt of the USA during their featherweight bout at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 27, 2011. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/People Visual

    That’s changing dramatically, however, as a handful of Chinese athletes start to find success in the octagon. The first UFC bout featuring a Chinese fighter came on Feb. 27, 2011, with Zhang Tiequan defeating the American featherweight Jason Reinhardt at UFC 127 in Australia.

    Today, China has 12 fighters competing in the UFC, and it even has its first world champion: Zhang Weili, who claimed the women’s strawweight title in 2019. Like Li, the 30-year-old Zhang — who isn’t related to Zhang Tiequan — sees herself as a role model for young Chinese athletes and encourages them to follow the path she has forged in life through her dedication to martial arts.

    “Years ago, a UFC championship looked far off in the distance for China,” Zhang Weili said ahead of her most recent title defense, an epic split-decision victory over Poland’s Joanna Jędrzejczyk in Las Vegas last March. “Now, we have it, and I hope I can give Chinese fighters more motivation to fight.”

    Zhang Weili’s breakout victories have helped the UFC rapidly emerge as one of China’s most popular sports franchises. In 2020, the promotion’s following on China’s Twitter-like Weibo grew nearly 40% to just under 2.2 million, while on Douyin — China’s version of TikTok — it jumped 157% to 7.1 million, according to figures supplied by the UFC.


    Zhang Weili celebrates following her split-decision victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk of Poland in their UFC strawweight championship fight during the UFC 248 event in Las Vegas, USA, March 7, 2020. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/People Visual

    “Chinese fighters are having a huge impact on getting the UFC into the mainstream,” Kevin Chang, senior vice president of the UFC’s Asia-Pacific operation, tells Sixth Tone. “It’s not just Zhang Weili, it’s extending into up-and-coming athletes and our veterans. All of them are trending.”

    As its fan base in China grows, the UFC is increasingly looking to the country to expand its roster of fighters. The promotion itself is investing heavily to develop Chinese talent, opening a $13 million performance institute in Shanghai in 2019, where 40 top young athletes are currently training.

    A number of people inside China’s MMA scene, meanwhile, tell Sixth Tone the UFC’s growing profile is attracting more young athletes to take up the sport. “The Leech” knows firsthand how important this shift could be.

    Now, there’s more attention on MMA than on any other combat sport in China.
    - Li Jingliang, UFC fighter
    As a child growing up in the Xinjiang countryside, Li started off as a wrestler and was even offered a wrestling scholarship by a local sports academy. But watching his first MMA event on television in 2008 “changed everything,” he says, convincing him to move to Beijing and try to make it as a pro fighter.

    “In my generation, if a person said, ‘I want to be an MMA athlete,’ there were a lot of critics — in society, among your family and friends,” Li says. “They just didn’t know what it was. I was very lucky, because my parents supported me … But now, there’s more attention on MMA than on any other combat sport in China.”

    Yi Xiemu is one of the young hopefuls hoping to become China’s next UFC star. The 16-year-old trains at the Enbo Fight Club — a gym in the southwestern city of Chengdu that hosts around 400 fighters, some of them local orphans.

    “I like MMA because it’s so powerful,” says Yi, who grew up in Aba Prefecture, a remote area northwest of Chengdu. “Training is very tiring, but I can persist … I’ve learned that in MMA, you have to continue training, keep fighting no matter what.”

    At Enbo, Yi benefits from training every day with UFC professional Su Mudaerji. The 25-year-old flyweight, currently ranked 14th in his division, has been in the club since he was a boy and now plays an important role mentoring its junior members.

    “I want to show them what’s possible if you work hard enough,” Su, also an Aba Prefecture native, tells Sixth Tone.
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  7. #37
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    continued from previous post


    Su Mudaerji (right) punches Zarrukh Adashev of Uzbekistan during their flyweight bout at the UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 20, 2021. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

    Zhang Tiequan, China’s first UFC fighter, is also using his experience to welcome a new generation of fighters. Since hanging up his gloves in 2012, the now-42-year-old has become a driving force behind China Top Team —one of the country’s leading MMA gyms. As a coach at the Beijing-based facility, he’s already helped chart the rise of Li, as well as the surging talent Yan Xiaonan, UFC’s third-ranked women’s strawweight.

    Chinese gyms have a natural head start when it comes to training world-class fighters, according to Zhang Tiequan. Unlike in other countries, where fighters normally transition from wrestling or jiu-jitsu to MMA, many Chinese youngsters start out training in kungfu or sanda — a native form of kickboxing that also incorporates wrestling and foot sweep techniques. Zhang followed this route himself, and he believes the wider range of skills he honed through sanda gave him an edge in the cage.

    “I started as a wrestler, then I was introduced to sanda,” says Zhang. “I could box, I could kick, I could wrestle. I think this sport gives Chinese fighters an advantage when it comes to MMA and the UFC because of those skills.”

    Song Yadong, the UFC’s 14th-ranked bantamweight, echoes this sentiment. His fighting career began at just 9 years old, when he convinced his parents to let him train at one of the famed kungfu schools surrounding the Shaolin Temple in Central China. From there, he transitioned into sanda, then began training with Chengdu’s Enbo Fight Club, before completing his MMA apprenticeship under the tutelage of UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber in California.


    Students practice open hand strikes at the Shaolin Yongzhi Kungfu School in Dengfeng, Henan province. Courtesy of Matthew Scott

    “Those kungfu skills I learned when I was 9 made me even more talented when I was practicing mixed martial arts,” Song tells Sixth Tone. “Chinese martial arts inspired me and taught me to mix the static with the dynamic, to understand that things can be true and false, and to fight with a capricious style.”

    To many in China’s MMA circles, Song’s journey from Shaolin to UFC success is a blueprint for the future. Joe Qiao Bo, a veteran MMA coach and ambassador for the sport in China, says the country’s martial arts schools are filled with young fighters with the potential to become pro MMA fighters.

    “There are a lot of young people getting into MMA, but the real numbers — the real giant pool of fighters — is still not activated,” says Qiao. “The real numbers are still in martial arts schools.”

    In the area around the Shaolin Temple alone, there are scores of martial arts venues, some of them housing as many as 40,000 teenage students. Qiao, who also serves as a consultant for the MMA department of the Chinese Boxing Federation, spends much of his time in the region, working to deepen ties between the schools and the fledgling MMA movement.

    “We are trying to activate that connection,” he says. “They (the students in Shaolin) are teenagers, and now is the perfect time to introduce them to MMA.”


    Joe Qiao Bo visits the Shaolin Yongzhi Kungfu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, 2019. Courtesy of Matthew Scott

    Wang Zhan, a coach at the Enbo Fight Club, has already noticed an uptick in the number of kids arriving in Chengdu from Shaolin, wanting to learn the new sport.

    “In the past three years, many people have been joining,” says Wang. “The UFC has indeed improved everyone’s knowledge of MMA in China … There are many fighters like Song Yadong.”

    There are a lot of young people getting into MMA, but the real giant pool of fighters is still not activated.
    - Joe Qiao Bo, MMA coach
    Meanwhile, there’s an ongoing effort to build up MMA as an amateur sport in China, ensuring young fighters have more opportunities to develop before turning pro.

    As elsewhere, MMA was for professionals only in China until just a few years ago. But in 2012, the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) was set up to turn MMA into a globally recognized amateur sport. One day, the goal is for MMA to be accepted as an Olympic event.

    The IMMAF and the Chinese Boxing Federation have begun organizing amateur competitions and promoting coaching programs in China. Chinese fighters also regularly compete in the IMMAF’s global competitions, with Han Guangmei the current women’s world bantamweight champion.

    Qiao, who coordinates the work of the Chinese and international bodies, views these initiatives as vital to getting the sport on more sustainable footing.“We need to build a pathway for the fighters,” he says. “We need to push this toward the Olympics, like other combat sports.”

    If these efforts pay off, China may once more emerge as a global center for combat sports. According to Qiao, if Chinese fighters dig deep enough into the country’s martial arts heritage, they could even show the UFC a new way to fight.

    “In MMA right now, people will either strike or they’ll do grappling,” he says. “But the beauty of real kungfu lies in the middle. How do you put your opponent off balance, and then strike? There is an element of this tripping in kungfu that no one is using in MMA. I call this the missing link. That’s what we’re working on now.”

    Editor: Dominic Morgan.

    (Header image: Li Jingliang reacts after his knockout victory over Santiago Ponzinibbio of Argentina in a welterweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 17, 2021. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/People Visual)
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  8. #38
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    NYT coverage

    China’s Top Mixed Martial Arts Star Isn’t Fighting for a Cause
    In China, she’s a symbol of women’s rights and a national hero. But Zhang Weili, who defends her U.F.C. title in Florida on Saturday, cares about just one label: champion.



    Zhang Weili training in Beijing last month. She has lost just one of her 22 professional fights.Credit...Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times

    By Amy Qin and Amy Chang Chien
    April 23, 2021
    Updated 5:52 a.m. ET
    Days before the bout to defend her championship title, Zhang Weili, China’s most famous mixed martial arts fighter, sensed that her opponent was trying to get under her skin.

    The opponent, the Lithuanian-American fighter Rose Namajunas, had framed their clash for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 115-pound title as no less than an ideological contest between freedom and Communism. “Better dead than red,” Ms. Namajunas said, using a McCarthy era anti-Communist slogan.

    But Ms. Zhang, 30, a strawweight who has lost only one of her 22 professional fights, wasn’t about to take the bait.

    “We are just athletes,” Ms. Zhang said in an interview from Jacksonville, Fla., where on Saturday she will face Ms. Namajunas in front of a sold-out crowd.

    “Don’t kid yourself into thinking you’re so important,” she added.

    Ms. Zhang might be modest about her own importance, but for her millions of fans she is not just one of the world’s greatest female fighters. Standing 5-foot-3, Ms. Zhang has become a real, if reluctant, symbol of women’s rights and a national hero.

    To spectators (and opponents) outside her home country, she is the hard-hitting face of a modern, assertive China and its Communist Party. To her government, she is the pride of the nation and a propaganda boon. To her female fans, she is a role model whose defiance of gender stereotypes has pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a Chinese woman.


    Ms. Zhang defending her Ultimate Fighting Championship title (successfully) against Joanna Jedrzejczyk of Poland in Las Vegas last year.Credit...Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun, via Associated Press
    To Ms. Zhang, though, such talk is little more than a distraction. The fighter might readily drape China’s flag around her shoulders after a win, but she rarely talks about politics in public. She has little to say about women’s rights and doesn’t see herself as a feminist. “What does that term even mean?” she asked, seeming genuinely puzzled.

    When she’s not battering opponents with powerful punches and spin kicks, Ms. Zhang is self-deprecating and goofy, even. She loves a good selfie filter and perks up any time the conversation turns to food.

    But colleagues say that beneath her sunny exterior is a mind focused solely on winning. That intensity, they say, has propelled Ms. Zhang, a coal worker’s daughter, to the top of the U.F.C.’s global rankings.

    “No matter how many belts she wins, she doesn’t change,” said Cai Xuejun, Ms. Zhang’s coach since 2013. “We are already at the peak, and she is still thinking about how to improve.”

    The fight on Saturday will be Ms. Zhang’s first since March of last year, when she successfully defended her title in an epic five-round battle in Las Vegas against the Polish fighter Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

    At the time, China was still trying to bring the coronavirus under control and the United States had not yet gone into lockdown. Weeks before the bout, Ms. Jedrzejczyk posted a photoshopped poster of herself in a gas mask next to Ms. Zhang. She later apologized for making light of the virus.

    “My country is ravaged by the epidemic,” an emotional Ms. Zhang, her face barely recognizable from the swelling, said after the fight. “I hope China will win the battle; the epidemic is a common enemy of humankind.”


    Wrestling with a training partner. Ms. Zhang said her mother “always told me that girls should be independent and not weak.” Credit...Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times
    Though such patriotic rhetoric might suggest otherwise, Ms. Zhang was trained outside the state-controlled sports machine that grooms China’s Olympians. Instead, the champion known to fans as “Magnum” discovered a love of fighting on her own.

    Growing up in the northern province of Hebei, Ms. Zhang was an energetic child. She fought frequently with her two older brothers and was once caught trying to escape her kindergarten by scaling the walls. To keep her occupied, her mother dug holes in the ground out of which the 5-year-old would practice jumping. Over time, the holes became deeper.

    “My mother was very supportive,” Ms. Zhang recalled. “She always told me that girls should be independent and not weak.”

    When she was 13, Ms. Zhang enrolled in a martial arts academy in Handan, a city with a deep-rooted fighting tradition.

    The school, which focused on sanda, a form of kickboxing developed by the Chinese military, instilled in her a sense of discipline.

    Of its 500 students, Ms. Zhang was one of only about 30 girls.

    “When I was a kid, before I started training in martial arts, I would get in a lot of fights,” she said. “Later, I stopped looking for my own fights — I just fought on behalf of other people.”
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  9. #39
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    continued from previous post


    Many fans see Ms. Zhang as a champion of women’s rights, but she doesn’t consider herself a feminist. “What does that term even mean?” she asked.Credit...Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
    Despite winning a provincial sanda championship, a recurring back injury forced Ms. Zhang to quit the sport at the age of 17. Her parents suggested that she go to beauty school to become a hairstylist.

    No way, Ms. Zhang recalled thinking. “I wanted to find my own path,” she said. She bought a one-way ticket to Beijing.

    For the next six years, Ms. Zhang drifted around the capital and worked odd jobs, including as a hotel receptionist, a kindergarten teacher and a security guard.

    Ms. Zhang was working at a gym in the early 2010s when she first began practicing mixed martial arts. She liked how M.M.A. incorporated multiple fighting styles, in contrast to traditional forms like kung fu.

    She made the leap to professional fighting in 2013, and in 2018 she signed with the U.F.C. The next year, she knocked out the Brazilian fighter Jessica Andrade in just 42 seconds, taking the women’s strawweight title and becoming the first Chinese champion in U.F.C. history.

    Since then, Ms. Zhang has become a national star. State-run news outlets have called her “the most capable female fighter in China” and the “woman warrior of the East.”

    Following her win last year in Las Vegas, she was enlisted by the Communist Youth League to make a video encouraging young Chinese to “dedicate your best youth to your beloved motherland.” Around the same time, the American cosmetics company Estée Lauder named her its brand ambassador in China.


    Ms. Zhang’s fame has been a windfall for the U.F.C., which has been expanding its presence in China.Credit...Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times
    On Chinese social media, Ms. Zhang often posts videos about her training sessions and her schnauzer, Miu, for her 5.5 million followers. Her fans write frequently about being inspired by her rejection of traditional notions of how a woman should look and behave. Some people also speculate about her love life — she says she is single — and joke about whether anyone would dare to date her given her violent occupation.

    “Those people don’t understand me. They only see who I am inside the octagon,” Ms. Zhang said, referring to the eight-sided ring in which U.F.C. fights take place.

    From her U.F.C. winnings alone, Ms. Zhang has earned around $1 million, according to her agent. Despite that success, she said, little about her life has changed. She still rents a house on the outskirts of Beijing with seven other people, including her coach and one of her brothers. She still trains five hours a day at the nearby Black Tiger Fight Club.

    Ms. Zhang’s fame in China has been a windfall for the U.F.C., which has been actively expanding its presence in the country, including opening a $13 million training facility in Shanghai.

    “She’s been the tide that lifts all boats,” said Kevin Chang, U.F.C.’s senior vice-president for the Asia-Pacific region.

    Days before her showdown on Saturday with Ms. Namajunas, Ms. Zhang said she was feeling good. She had already begun to torture herself by looking at photos of the foods she was hoping to eat after the fight. (Ice cream and steamed buns are among her favorites, she said.)

    Had she thought about what would she say in the octagon if she won? Would there be another impassioned plea about humankind?

    She wasn’t sure, but just in case, she had in her back pocket a signature line in English that she has sometimes used after a win.

    “My name is Zhang Weili!” she yells triumphantly. “I am from China — remember me!”


    After defeating Ms. Jedrzejczyk in Las Vegas.Credit...Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun, via Associated Press
    Ultimate Fighting Championship


    Amy Qin is an international correspondent covering the intersection of culture, politics and society in China. @amyyqin

    Amy Chang Chien covers news in mainland China and Taiwan. She is based in Taipei. @amy_changchien
    Go Zhang!!!!!
    Gene Ching
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  10. #40
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    Thug Rose Namajunas KNOCKOUT of Weili Zhang



    bummer
    Gene Ching
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  11. #41
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    bummer x2

    sounds like it was a good fight tho. anyone watch?

    Rose Namajunas edges Zhang Weili in split decision to retain UFC women's strawweight title

    9:51 PM PT
    Brett Okamoto
    ESPN Staff Writer

    NEW YORK -- Rose Namajunas successfully defended her strawweight crown on Saturday against Zhang Weili -- the same woman she took the belt from back in April.

    Saturday's rematch, however, was a much different fight than the first. Namajunas (11-4) edged Zhang (21-3) by the slimmest of margins, as she earned a split decision in the co-main event of UFC 268 inside Madison Square Garden. Two judges scored it for Namajunas via scores of 49-46 and 48-47. A third scored it 48-47 for Zhang.

    It was a much closer, more strategic fight than their first title bout earlier this year, when Namajunas knocked out Zhang with a head kick just 78 seconds in.

    In a surprising twist, it was likely Namajunas' wrestling that cemented the win. She secured key takedowns in the fourth and fifth rounds and racked up nearly double the amount of control time of Zhang. Zhang, of China, was known as the more physical force going in, but Namajunas' slick takedowns and top control stood out in the championship rounds.

    Zhang's best work was arguably early. She targeted Namajunas' legs with kicks in the opening round, and was successful in doing so. Namajunas' lead left leg showed several red welts above the knee by the third round, and her movement seemed slightly compromised. Zhang also staggered her with a counter right hand in the second round.

    Namajunas had her moments on the feet as well, though. She landed at a higher percentage than Zhang, and her boxing combinations consistently found a home both at range and when the two engaged in any prolonged exchanges. After the fight, Namajunas said she was confident she'd done enough to get the win.

    New York has been good to Namajunas, especially Madison Square Garden. She won the UFC's strawweight championship for the first time in this building in 2017, when she upset Joanna Jedrzejczyk via first-round knockout. She went on to defend the title once against Jedrzejczyk in 2018 in Brooklyn, before surrendering it to Jessica Andrade in 2019.

    Zhang, 32, has now lost her last two bouts after winning 21 in a row previously.
    Gene Ching
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  12. #42
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    What a shot



    Yahoo Sports
    UFC 275: Zhang Weili sends Joanna Jedrzejczyk into retirement with brutal spinning backfist KO
    Kevin Iole·Combat columnist
    Sat, June 11, 2022, 8:32 PM·3 min read
    In this article:


    Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk put on one of the greatest fights in UFC history on March 6, 2020, in Las Vegas at UFC 248. More than two years later, they met again on the main card of UFC 275 in Singapore and put on another classic.

    After a fast-paced first round in which Zhang’s wrestling controlled the battle, Zhang caught Jedrzejczyk with a spinning backfist during a flurry. Zhang’s forearm landed squarely on the side of Jedrzejczyk’s face and she did a face plant.

    Zhang Weili delivered an incredible finish and is now next in line to fight Carla Esparza for the title. #UFC275 pic.twitter.com/pgUIn7Dimj

    — Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) June 12, 2022

    Referee Marc Godard immediately called it at 2:28 of the second, giving Zhang the win and the next title shot at champion Carla Esparza. Jedrzejczyk, a former strawweight champion, removed her gloves and announced her retirement.

    “She was such a huge part of the growth of women’s MMA and it was incredible to have her be a part of this company,” UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports. “We will all miss her!”


    SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - JUNE 12: (L-R) Zhang Weili of China knocks out Joanna Jedrzejczyk of Poland with a spinning back fist in a flyweight fight during the UFC 275 event at Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 12, 2022 in Singapore. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
    They came out quickly in Round 1 and were firing shots at each other. But unlike their first fight in which it was nearly entirely stand-up fighting, Zhang took the fight to the ground.

    She got into mount and was dropping powerful elbows on Jedrzejczyk but Jedrzejczyk, like she’d shown throughout her career, kept battling and didn’t quit.

    They immediately got after it again in the second. As they were in the midst of a wild exchange, Zhang missed a shot. As Jedrzejczyk loaded up to throw, Zhang spun and caught Jedrzejczyk on the side of the head to end it in stunning fashion.

    “I was very, very calm and relaxed for this,” Zhang, another ex-champion, said in the Octagon after the win. “I knew i wasn’t fighting Joanna. I was fighting myself.”

    It wasn’t such a happy finish for Jedrzejczyk, who said she didn’t expect Zhang to be as fast or as strong as she was.

    Jedrzejczyk has lost two in a row and three of four and, at nearly 35, said it was time to move on to something else.

    “I’m retired, guys,” she said, fighting back tears. “I love it so much. … DC, Dana, I’m so sorry I let you guys down.”


    SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - JUNE 12: Joanna Jedrzejczyk of Poland announces her retirement after her TKO loss to Zhang Weili of China in a flyweight fight during the UFC 275 event at Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 12, 2022 in Singapore. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
    Go Magnum!
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  13. #43
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    She did great!
    Her toughest competitors will be the "pure" BJJ Brazilians since they have the greater body fat and training conditioning to equal her stamina.

  14. #44
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    Congrats!

    Zhang Weili submits Carla Esparza to reclaim strawweight title
    Nov 12, 2022
    Brett Okamoto
    ESPN Staff Writer

    NEW YORK -- Zhang Weili became China's first UFC champion in 2019, when she took the strawweight title from Jessica Andrade. On Saturday, she also became China's second UFC champion.

    Zhang (23-3) reclaimed her 115-pound championship by submitting Carla Esparza (19-7) in the second round of their strawweight title fight, which co-headlined UFC 281 inside Madison Square Garden. The finish came at the 1:05 mark via rear-naked choke and made Zhang a champion again for the first time since March 2021.

    "Every day I dreamed of this, my belt would come back," Zhang said.

    Zhang, 33, has always been one of the best strawweights in the world, but her kryptonite in the UFC has been former champion Rose Namajunas. Zhang lost her title to Namajunas at UFC 261 in March 2021 and lost to her again via split decision in an immediate rematch in November last year.

    Esparza took the belt from Namajunas in an upset split decision in May, which helped set up another title shot for Zhang. Although she was the challenger, Zhang went into Saturday's contest as a significant betting favorite, and it showed once the fight began.

    The veteran stalked Esparza around the Octagon, and although she didn't land too many shots early, the power difference was obvious. Esparza caught a body kick attempt in the first several minutes and looked to take Zhang down, but Zhang's physicality in the scrambles continued to show up as the fight progressed.

    In the second round, Zhang scrambled partially around Esparza's back and forced her to choke to the tap. The finish is Zhang's eighth career win by submission and only the second time Esparza has been submitted in her 12-year career. Zhang also becomes the fourth woman in UFC history to become a two-time champion, joining Namajunas, Amanda Nunes and, ironically, Esparza.

    Esparza sees a six-fight win streak snapped.
    There's a short vid behind the link but it doesn't show the RNC well. The vid I saws elsewhere was scrubbed.
    Gene Ching
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