The first championship bout has been added to UFC 300 fight card on Saturday, April 13, featuring Weili Zhang up against Yan Xiaonan. The all-Chinese contest pits two-time women’s strawweight champion against No. 2-ranked contender. The event airs live on PPV from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Zhang Weili (24-3) is riding a three-fight winning streak. In her previous outing last August, the 34-year-old scored a unanimous decision against Amanda Lemos. In November 2022, the native of Handan, China reclaimed the belt against Carla Esparza by submission in the second round. In June the same year, the first Chinese champion in the UFC KO’d Joanna Jedrzejczyk in Round 2 with spinning backfist. She is currently No. 2 in the UFC women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Yan Xiaonan (17-3, 1 NC) won two of her previous bout. The 34-year-old was in action last May, when she knocked out former champion Jessica Andrade in the first round with punches. In October 2022, the Shenyang, China native took a majority decision against Mackenzie Dern. She is No. 2 in the UFC women’s strawweight rankings and No. 9 in pound-for-pound.
UFC President Dana White made the first title fight announcement in a video posted on social media. He also promised “at least, two or more for you tomorrow”.
Among the previously announced bouts, Brazil’s former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira faces Armenian Arman Tsarukyan. As well, former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka of Czech Republic meets Aleksandar Rakic of Austria. In addition, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling takes on Calvin Kattar in an all-American bout at featherweight and Bo Nickal squares off against Cody Brundage in an all-American bout at middleweight.
The main event and co-main event bouts at UFC 300 are expected to be announced shortly.