NEW YORK – She may be the challenger Saturday, but former women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili is brimming with confidence.
Weili (22-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) meets Carla Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) for Esparza’s title in the UFC 281 co-main event at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
Weili won the 115-pound belt in August 2019 with a 42-second knockout of Jessica Andrade. She defended it with a split call over Joanna Jedrzejczyk just before the world shut down for the pandemic.
But in April 2021, she was knocked out by Rose Namajunas and surrendered the title, and about six months later, she lost to Namajunas by split decision in a rematch. In June, though, she knocked out Jedrzejczyk – and that put her in position to challenge for the title once again a few weeks after Esparza beat Namajunas to reclaim the belt.
When they fight Saturday, Weili will be the second biggest favorite on the card at around 4-1.
“No matter if I’m the favorite or the underdog, I prepared for this fight 100 percent,” Weili told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s media day in Manhattan. “I won’t look down at Carla just because I’m the favorite and she’s the underdog. I’ll do my best Saturday night.”
Weili, the UFC’s first champion from China, said she thinks Esparza is an opponent to worry about – but not to the point of fear.
And she thinks she has seen ways to beat her.
“I think Carla is one of the best in our division,” Weili said. “She was the inaugural champ of our division and won the title back after eight years. It’s a great achievement and I respect her achievement very much.
“I think her previous opponents, the mistake they made is they got trapped by Carla and got in her fighting rhythm. What I’m going to do Saturday night is I won’t be trapped by her. I’ll set up some traps for her.”
And while Weili didn’t say what those traps would be, she thinks she has the edge over Esparza in all areas.
“I think I’m a more well-rounded fighter than her,” she said. “No matter if we fight striking, wrestling, grappling, I have no problem fighting against her. I prepared a lot for this fight. Be ready: Some spectacular moment will happen in this fight.
“I think my fight is going to be a very exciting fight. I don’t fear her wrestling or grappling. I don’t fear anything from Carla Esparza.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 281.
