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Zhang Weili Embraces New Weight Class Ahead of UFC 322 Showdown With Valentina Shevchenko

Originally posted on Dice City Sports | By Robert LaMar | Last updated Nov 12, 2025 9:49 PM ET

NEW YORK — As Zhang Weili prepares for her next championship test, there’s a different energy surrounding the former strawweight queen. For the first time in years, she enters fight week not as a defending champion and not as a drained, weight-cutting machine. This Saturday at UFC 322 inside Madison Square Garden, Weili challenges reigning flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in a superfight that will determine the next two-division women’s champion in UFC history. And according to Weili, competing at 125 pounds has made all the difference.

No longer cutting down to 115 pounds, Weili walked into media week looking noticeably more comfortable, energized, and upbeat.

“I feel very good, everything very good,” Weili told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 322 media day. “Camp, my weight, stay strong, stay healthy everything’s good. I’m so excited for this Saturday.”

Weili even laughed while describing the biggest difference between this camp and her previous ones.

“I feel very different… I can eat, I eat a lot,” she said, “I have a lot of energy training, so this camp was training a lot.”

It’s a stark contrast to her strawweight days, when the final week often meant grueling, last-minute cuts.

Moving up

Zhang Weili is making the rounds at media day!

[ #VeChain #UFC322 | SAT NOV 15 | 10pmET on @ESPN PPV ] pic.twitter.com/epXqqkqPCI

— UFC (@ufc) November 12, 2025

A Pound-for-Pound Dream Fight

On paper, Shevchenko vs. Weili is as elite as women’s MMA can offer — the top two fighters in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings meeting at the world’s most famous arena. Shevchenko (25-4-1), already a two-time flyweight champion, is chasing her ninth title defense and 11th title-fight victory. A win Saturday would tie Amanda Nunes’ all-time UFC women’s record. Weili (26-3), meanwhile, rides a five-fight winning streak that includes reclaiming the strawweight belt from Carla Esparza in 2022 and defending it three times. She vacated the title earlier this year for one reason: to chase two-division immortality. As the naturally smaller athlete moving up in weight, many believe Weili is at a physical disadvantage. But strength has never been her problem this is the fighter who famously lifted Francis Ngannou off the ground during a training session. So any doubts, Weili says, will be answered under the lights on Saturday night.

“I just want to say: This Saturday we can see.”

With two legends, two elite resumes, and two belts’ worth of legacy on the line, UFC 322’s co-main event has all the makings of an instant classic. For Weili, the move to flyweight brought renewed joy. For Shevchenko, it’s an opportunity to reaffirm her place among the all-time greats. The only thing left is the fight itself and Zhang Weili can’t wait.

This article first appeared on Dice City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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