Strawweight champion Zhang Weili has had an upward journey in MMA but not without hardships. Hailing from the city of Handan in the Hebei province of China, she grew up with her retired miner father and a mother who is a homemaker. She has an older brother who quit his job as a gold trader to support Zhang’s MMA career and now helps her at the gym where she trains.

At the age of six, she began training in Shaolin Kung Fu after being inspired by Kung Fu films. At age 12, she was sent to a specialized school for martial arts learning Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) and Shuai Jiao (jacket wrestling). The current and 2-time UFC strawweight champion, she is the first Chinese fighter to have won a UFC championship. So does ‘Magnum’ deserve the title of “Women’s MMA GOAT?” Let’s find out.

Zhang Weili’s strong legacy

At age 17, the Strawweight star moved to Beijing and worked several jobs; a cashier, kindergarten teacher, security guard, and hotel desk clerk. But her dream of being an MMA star was never diminished. Through all of these jobs, there must’ve been a part of her keen on pursuing an MMA career. In 2010, at age 21, she found the perfect segway into what would be the start of her MMA journey. She began working as a fitness instructor at a local Beijing gym and was allowed to use the equipment in the after-hours.

This is when she picked up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and got to know her idol Wu Haotian, an expert in the Chinese MMA scene. Haotian brought her to the Black Tiger Fight Club and thus, began her pro-MMA journey. Weili finally made her professional debut in 2013 but was defeated by Meng Bo by a unanimous decision over five rounds. That loss must’ve lit a fire under her because she then went on an 11-fight tear before challenging Simone Duarte for the Kunlun Fight Female strawweight title on May 25, 2017.

How did her fight against Duarte go? She won this fight via TKO in the first round. The 35-year-old then won four more fights, defending her Kunlun Fight belt twice, in addition to winning the Top FC strawweight title before the UFC called upon her. She made her promotional debut in 2018, and within four fights, knocked Jessica Andrade out in the first round to claim the UFC strawweight belt.

In her first title defense, she faced the “boogeywoman of the strawweight division” herself, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The bout was a five-round war, where ‘Magnum’ not only defended her title but also made the former Polish champion look like a Xenomorph from the Alien movie franchise – Jedrzejczyk had a hematoma the size of a melon by the end of the bout. This bout is particularly considered one of, if not the greatest bouts in female mixed martial arts to date.

There were hiccups along the way, like losing her title to Rose Namajunas via a first-round, head-kick KO, and she failed to regain the title despite a five-round war in the rematch with ‘Thug’ Rose. These are the only two losses of her promotional career, spanning 11 fights. After her losses to Namajunas, she put Joanna Jedrzejczyk into retirement with a spinning back-fist KO at UFC 275 and choked Carla Esparza out in the second round at UFC 281 to win back the strawweight belt. What followed were two dominant title defenses in her second reign against Amanda Lemos at UFC 292 and fellow Chinese fighter Yan Xianon at UFC 300.

When reflecting on fighting at UFC 300’s co-main event, she pointed to where she was when UFC 200 went down almost eight years ago. At the time, she was just 5-1 and only three years into her professional fighting career. “I was a rookie at that time,” she said. “I didn’t know much. But now, look at me. I’m [fighting] at [UFC] 300. I have come a long way.”

However, despite her accomplishments, she still thinks she has a long way to go. “I want to build my legacy,” she said to Sherdog. “I feel like I’m still [a long way from becoming] a legend. I still have a lot to learn.” Indeed, all her accomplishments definitely make her the perfect candidate for the woman’s GOAT status.

Other candidates for MMA female GOAT status

In 2013, the unthinkable happened. Going against his own words (“Never”, in reply to a question about seeing women in the UFC), Dana White put together the first women’s UFC fight between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche. The rest, as they say, is history as the era of some of the greatest female fighters was upon us. A bunch of impressive female champions emerged during the past 11 years in the UFC arena. And just like with men, the argument for the top position in the women’s GOAT continues to this day.

Of course, Amanda Nunes, the consensus women’s GOAT, retired at the top as a dual champion. Valentina Shevchenko made her argument when she became the flyweight queen, losing only three times (twice to Nunes) in the last decade. Ronda Rousey will always be considered one of the pioneers of women’s MMA in the UFC, even though she unceremoniously lost twice and retired thereafter. Holly Holm is another woman with an illustrious fighting career.

Outside the UFC, you had fighters like Cris Cyborg (who briefly competed in the UFC and was the featherweight champ) and Gina Carano who are true pioneers of women’s MMA. Currently, in the UFC, we have a long list of female fighters across two divisions. However, when it comes to who the female GOAT is, Amanda Nunes has made her case, and it can be safely assumed that Zhang Weili is on her way if she continues winning. Let’s see what the future holds for her.