Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
China now has its very own homegrown UFC champion in Li Jingliang.
In May, Jessica Andrade was celebrating her highlight piledriver win over Rose Namajunas to become the fourth UFC strawweight champion. Four months later, she drops the title to China’s Weili Zhang to become the new 115-pound champion.
Zhang was effectively fighting in the pocket, using her clinch to neutralize Andrade and land hard, clean knee strikes. Andrade had no more answers, as Zhang poured it on further with knee strikes and effective clinch work. She landed another punch, sending the Brazilian fighter to the canvas once again.
Having seen enough, the referee intervened to stop the fight at 0:42 seconds of the first round.
Here are some of the highlights:
HISTORY FOR CHINA!! #UFCShenzhen pic.twitter.com/fFlJZrY8QY
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) August 31, 2019
WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION! CHINA YOU HAVE YOUR FIRST UFC CHAMPION!#UFCShenzhen pic.twitter.com/lRAhcEFC0J
— UFC (@ufc) August 31, 2019
Zhang made history by becoming the first fighter out of China to become a UFC champion. She improves to a record of 20-1, her fourth straight victory in the UFC. Andrade, meanwhile, drops to a record of 20-7, marking her first TKO loss since 2013.