Tag Archives: Zhang Weili

Amanda Lemos Pulls Off Upset Win Over Marina Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night

Posted on by
Reply

Amanda Lemos has pulled off an upset…

The 35-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist finished Marina Rodriguez via TKO at 54 seconds of the third round on Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.

Rodriguez was poised for a title shot if she won, but now Lemos has snatched her spot near the top of the rankings.

The finish came after a big counter overhand right by Lemos. The punch landed to Rodriguez’s forehead, as Rodriguez was coming in for a combination of her own. It stopped Rodriguez in her tracks and left her rocked. Lemos pressed forward with another big right hand and then flurried with right and left hooks until referee Jason Herzog stepped in to stop it.

“Her legs started wobbling a little bit,” Lemos said in her postfight interview. “I didn’t think twice. I’m going to finish the fight right there.”

ESPN had Rodriguez ranked No. 4 in the women’s strawweight division coming in, with Lemos at No. 9. The big stoppage victory should push Lemos closer to title contention.

She proposed the idea of being the backup fighter for the women’s strawweight title fight next week at UFC 281 between champion Carla Esparza and former champ Zhang Weili in New York.

Lemos (13-2-1) has won two straight and seven of her past eight fights. The Brazilian-born slugger has finished five of her seven UFC victories. That ties her with Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade for the most finishes in UFC strawweight history.

Lemos was coming off a second-round submission win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez in July. Her only loss at 115 pounds came against Andrade in April.

Rodriguez (16-2-2) had a four-fight winning streak snapped. The Brazilian-born fighter had only lost once before in her MMA career, to Esparza in July 2020.

Rodriguez, 35, was coming off signature wins against contenders Yan Xiaonan and Mackenzie Dern.

Carla Esparza to Defend UFC Women’s Strawweight Title Against Zhang Weili

Posted on by
Reply

Carla Esparza is ready to defend her title…

The 34-year-old part-Mexican and part-Ecuadorian American will face off against Zhang Weili at Madison Square Garden in a UFC women’s strawweight title fight.

Carla Esparza

Esperza, the current champion, and Zhang, the former champ, has been verbally agreed to for UFC 281 on November 12 in New York, according to ESPN.

The fight hasn’t yet been signed, nor officially announced by the UFC. But bout agreements have been sent out, per sources.

Both fighters have posted about the fight on their respective social media accounts. The news of the fight was first reported by MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.

ESPN has Esparza ranked No. 1 in the world at 115 pounds and Zhang at No. 3.

Esparza (19-6) became a two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion when she beat Rose Namajunas via split decision at UFC 274 back in May. The California native was the first-ever UFC women’s strawweight champion, beating Namajunas to win The Ultimate Fighter — and the inaugural belt — in 2014. Esparza, 34, is on a six-fight winning streak.

Zhang (22-3) is coming off a second-round knockout of Joanna Jedrzejczyk in June. The Chinese-born fighter lost the title to Namajunas at UFC 261 in April 2021 and then lost the rematch to Namajunas at Madison Square Garden last November at UFC 268. Zhang, 33, became the first Chinese-born fighter and second Asia-born fighter to win a UFC title when she beat Jessica Andrade to win the 115-pound belt in 2019.

UFC 281 will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Israel Adesanyaand former kickboxing rival and top contender Alex Pereira.

Tecia Torres to Fight Mackenzie Dern at UFC 273 in April

Posted on by
Reply

Tecia Torres is headed to the Octagon in April…

UFC has added a strawweight bout between the 32-year-old part-Puerto Rican mixed martial artist and Mackenzie Dern to the lineup for UFC 273 on April 9.

Tecia Torres,Torres announced the bout via social media, and UFC officials confirmed the 115-pound matchup to ESPN. The promotion has not announced a venue or main event for the pay-per-view.

According to UFC‘s official rankings, Dern and Torres ranked fifth and seventh in the strawweight division, respectively.

Torres, who fights out of Colorado, has won three in a row since 2020. The 10-year veteran has turned things around after a four-fight skid from 2018 to 2020. Three of those four losses came against women who have won a UFC championship: Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili.

Fighting out of California, Dern (11-2) suffered a setback in her last bout against surging Marina Rodriguez in October. Before that loss, the submission specialist had won four in a row.

Jessica Andrade to Fight Defending UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko 

Posted on by
Reply

Jessica Andrade is taking on a champion…

The 29-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former strawweight champion is set to take on defending UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 261, according to Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White.

Jessica Andrade

The 125-pound title fight will take place at the April 24 pay-per-view event, for which the UFC hasn’t yet finalized a location. It will mark Shevchenko’s fifth attempted title defense.

Shevchenko (20-3) has dominated the weight class since she dropped to 125 pounds from 135 pounds in 2018. She won the vacant belt by defeating another former strawweight champion in Joanna Jedrzejczyk in late 2018, then has looked more or less unbeatable in defenses against Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, Katlyn Chookagian and Jennifer Maia.

Andrade (21-8) is widely perceived as the greatest threat to Shevchenko’s reign.

She won the UFC’s 115-pound championship by knocking out Rose Namajunas in May 2019 before surrendering the belt to current champ Zhang Weili three months later. She moved up to the 125-pound division in October, and scored a first-round knockout over Chookagian.

ESPN ranks Shevchenko and Andrade the No. 2 and No. 6 female pound-for-pound fighters in the world, respectively.

Jessica Andrade to Fight Rose Namajunas in High-Profile UFC Rematch

Posted on by
Reply

Jessica Andrade is readying for a rematch…

The UFC is thisclose to a deal for a high-profile rematch between the 28-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and fellow  former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, according to ESPN.

Jessica Andrade

Contracts haven’t been signed yet, but both sides have reportedly agreed to meet on July 11 at a location to be determined. 

The location could be the mysterious “Fight Island,” which UFC president Dana White has claimed will be operational by late June.

Namajunas (8-4) was the champion when she first fought Andrade (20-7) in Brazil in May 2019. Namajunas appeared to be winning the bout until Andrade picked her up and slammed her midway through the second round for a knockout victory.

Andrade went on to surrender the title to current champion Zhang Weili in her first attempted defense three months later.

The UFC originally booked this rematch for UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, but that event was ultimately postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The promotion tried to keep it intact for May 2, but Namajunas was forced to withdraw due to personal reasons.

The winner of the 115-pound contest would have a strong case for another title shot against Zhang, who recently told ESPN she’d like to face Namajunas in her next bout.