Zhang Weili Dominates Amanda Lemos, Retains Strawweight Title at UFC 292 | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
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Zhang Weili once again proved that she’s the best women’s strawweight in the world with a unanimous decision win over Amanda Lemos in the co-main event from UFC 292 at the TD Garden in Boston.
It couldn’t have been more decisive for the champion.
Zhang wasted no time in taking the lead. She easily outworked the contender in the opening round. She landed an early takedown and took every opportunity to beat Lemos up on the ground in a lopsided round.
The only saving grace for Lemos was a D’Arce choke attempt that gave Zhang a scare while she was working toward landing more ground-and-pound.
The dominance continued in the second round. Zhang was able to wrestle Lemos to the ground any time that she wanted to and her ability to rack up damage gave her a big early lead on scorecards.
Through two rounds the strike differential was 125 to 4 with one-way traffic featuring the champion working to wear down her challenger.
Lemos did make a stand in the fourth round. She landed a right hand as Zhang was throwing a kick and it knocked down the champion. She also squeezed on another tight D’Arce choke but couldn’t hold onto it.
The striking total didn’t get any better for Lemos:
Ultimately, Zhang proved to be the better fighter everywhere the fight went and showed why she is the champion.
Technically, this is Zhang’s first title defense in her second reign as champion so it might be a little early to call her a dominant champion. But she’s been dominant in all of her fights outside of her two losses to Rose Namajunas.
While she hasn’t had the title long, she now holds wins over three of the top five ranked fighters in her division, including two wins over Joanna Jędrzejczyk.
Fortunately, there are still interesting challenges that await the champion. Yan Xiaonan is of particular interest. The 34-year-old has won back-to-back fights against Mackenzie Dern and Jéssica Andrade with the latter coming by way of first-round knockout.
Zhang has already expressed an interest in fighting her before the year is out. The potential matchup of two Chinese fighters meeting up with a title on the line in their home country is something she is hoping will become a reality.
“I met Dana in the locker room after the fight and he said, ‘Let’s do it in China.’ So if we can make a UFC China event happen, let’s pull it up,” said Xiaonan during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani h/t Kristen King of Bloody Elbow. “I think it’s possible, yeah, probably at some point at the end of this year.”
Tatiana Suarez also stands out as a reasonable opponent. She is 10-0 and coming off a win over Andrade, but the allure of pitting the two Chinese fighters in a China event could push Xiaonan to the front of the line.
Either way, Zhang figures to be the favorite.
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