The UFC‘s strawweight queen is back. Dana White announced a flurry of fights this evening including the next title defense for strawweight champion Zhang Weili (23-3). Per White, Weili will defend her title next against top contender Amanda Lemos (13-2-1).
The fight will be the co-main event of UFC 292 on August 19th. The card is headlined by the bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley. For Amanda Lemos, her hard work has paid off and she’s finally getting a shot at UFC gold.
After losing her promotional debut back in 2017, Lemos would go on to win five straight fights. These wins earned her a headliner against former champion Jessica Andrade. Unfortunately for Lemos, she was submitted in the first round.
However, following that loss, she’s bounced back incredibly strong. Lemos submitted Michelle Waterson-Gomez and then knocked out top contender Marina Rodriguez. Those two finishes have earned her a shot against the champ Zhang Weili.
UFC 292
After losing her first professional MMA fight, Zhang Weili won 21 fights in a row. After winning her first three fights in the UFC, Weili was given a title shot against Jessica Andrade. She knocked out Andrade in the first round to become strawweight champion.
Her second title defense was against Rose Namajunas. She was the big favorite, but was knocked out by a head kick in the first round. The two immediately had a rematch with Namajunas winning a close split decision.
Following the second loss, Weili fought Joanna Jedrzejczyk for a second time and knocked her out in the second round. That win earned her a shot against UFC champ Carla Esparza who had narrowly defeated Namajunas. Weili ran through Esparza to regain the strawweight title.
Now, two of the more powerful strawweights in the world will face off with the sport’s biggest prize on the line. This should be a good one.