Preview! Will ‘Magnum’ Force Topple Andrade?

Photo by Zhe Ji/Getty Images

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade, will put her 115-pound title up for grabs against surging division contender, Weili Zhang, in the UFC Fight Night 157 main event on ESPN+ on Sat. (Aug. 31, 2019) inside Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China.

Andrade (20-6) captured the crown by knocking out Rose Namajunas at UFC 237 earlier this year in Brazil. While “Bate Estaca” was open to giving the ex-champ an immediate rematch, “Thug Rose” opted to take some time off to heal up from injuries.

That paved the way for Zhang (19-1), who defeated Danielle Taylor, Jessica Aguilar and most recently, Tecia Torres at UFC 235. Not too shabby for a strawweight who’s only been with the promotion for roughly a year. “Magnum” currently sits at No. 6 in the official rankings.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 157 fight card on Saturday (click here), starting with the ESPN “Prelims” undercard bouts at 3 a.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time of 6 a.m. ET.

For much more on tomorrow’s UFC Shenzhen event, which features a welterweight co-main event between Li Jingliang and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, click here.