UFC’s Strawweight Division Has Gained Some Closure With Weili Zhang’s Abdication

One of the UFC ‘s worst-kept secrets has become real: Weili Zhang is challenging flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko UFC 322. The dream fight was one of five announced on Thursday.

The key word here is “dream fight” – it can no longer be considered a superfight, because Zhang has vacated her strawweight title to do so. Instead, Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern will be contesting the belt in the co-main event of UFC 321 three weeks earlier.

The developments represent good news for the UFC’s lightest division, which has had to contend with prolonged bouts of inactivity from Zhang for the past two years. To understand this notion arising from Zhang’s abdication, however one must first look back at how her second reign was handled.

A Recap Of The UFC’s Missed Opportunities for Weili Zhang’s Second Reign

In November 2022, Zhang regained the strawweight title from Carla Esparza. It was her second fight of the year – the last time it would happen until now. It also capped off a return to dominance after the heartbreak that was losing to Rose Namajunas twice in 2021.

Meanwhile, Amanda Lemos had shrugged off a submission loss to Jessica Andrade with finishes of Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Marina Rodriguez. The latter occurred just a week before Zhang reclaimed the title, so booking that bout made sense in the aftermath.

That, however, is arguably where the first timing mishap happened. With neither woman having been significantly hurt, they could have met as early as February the following year, with the UFC rumored to host a Fight Night in Seoul.

Zhang vs. Lemos would have made for a better main event than what was originally planned – Giga Chikadze vs. “The Korean Zombie” Chan-Sung Jung. A common complaint about Fight Nights is poor card makeup, and having a title fight as a main event would have boosted its quality. Alas, a shoulder injury to Jung scuppered the UFC’s Seoul plans, and the event was instead held at the UFC Apex.

It would not be the only opportune moment the UFC would miss in 2023, however. Later that year, the promotion announced a return to Singapore. Again, Zhang vs. Lemos would have been a more sensible headliner than what transpired – Max Holloway retiring Jung with a dominant third-round knockout. While that fight definitely had more name value, Jung could have been given an easier opponent in a co-headliner slot.

Zhang instead dominated Lemos in the co-main event of UFC 292 the week before. Conversation then shifted towards her compatriot Xiaonan Yan, who had solidified herself as the next challenger with a knockout of Andrade three months ago. With Zhang going mostly untouched against Lemos, there was an opportunity for both women to meet in December, when the UFC was initially set to return to Shanghai.

That card was instead moved to the Apex, with Yadong Song outpointing Chris Gutierrez to end the night. Zhang instead met Yan at UFC 300 and won by unanimous decision.

A New Strawweight Era Beckons

All those mishaps, however, pale in comparison to what transpired over the summer of 2024. In August, the UFC announced that it would return to Macau for a Fight Night. It would have been poetic – Zhang coming back home, in a way, to defend the title once more.

By this point, Tatiana Suarez and Jandiroba were the top two names considered. Either would have made sense, but they were instead initially booked against each other before it fell apart. Zhang, meanwhile, was instead invited to watch UFC 306, sowing the seeds for her clash with Shevchenko. She did fight Suarez eventually, claiming a dominant unanimous decision win in the co-main event of UFC 312.

Even with that win, however, Jandiroba still loomed, and she solidified herself as the no. 1 contender by dominating Yan. Alas, as stated before, that fight is no longer happening, at least in the short term, even though there was one opening to book it – last week in Shanghai.

Instead, Zhang is going 10 pounds north to chase another title. This leaves Jandiroba to try avenging one of the three losses in her career against Dern. It heralds a new era for the strawweights, who have finally gotten closure on where their division is headed.

Of the division’s remaining ranked fighters, Loopy Godinez, Iasmin Lucindo, and Gillian Robertson have the most promise. Each of them is coming off a win in her last fight, and all but Lucindo are on win streaks.