It’s been over eight months since Zhang Weili stepped into the cage. As anticipation surrounding her comeback builds, the former two-time UFC strawweight champion has received an open call-out from rising contender Fatima Kline. Yet, amid those developments, fighting appears to be the last thing on the Chinese UFC star’s mind.

The latest Instagram post from Zhang Weili features a short clip showing her completely unrecognizable and glamorous facial transformation following a cosmetic refresh. Social media quickly picked up on the former champion’s stunning new look, leading to some wild reactions from fans, including one from former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.

“Zhang Weili is looking different 😤,” ESPNMMA’s Instagram post read. The message from the former champion provided a few more details.

“There was a professional makeup artist who taught me to apply makeup. Trying new is not good at,” it read.

With a makeup artist working on her hair and face, the accompanying video showed Weili looking completely different from how she usually appears. The difference was shocking to say the least. The 36-year-old looked less like a UFC fighter and more like a K-Pop star.

“How?” Merab Dvalishvili remarked. The question could be genuine, given how insanely different Weili looked from her usual appearance. Usually, whenever a person undergoes a makeover, the changes, while noticeable, still retain traces of the original features. In Weili’s case, that seemed to be far from the case. The transformation even appeared to change the shape of her face. And it seemed the former UFC champion, who now holds the top spot in the strawweight rankings, was more than happy with the transformation.

What exactly prompted Zhang to undergo the change remains a mystery. Given the way she commented about it, having some fun appears to be the likely reason.

More importantly, Weili’s experiment comes at a time when the speculation surrounding her comeback has grown. Since June 2022, a five-fight winning streak saw her become a strawweight champion for the second time.

After defending it three times, Weili vacated it to face Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 for the flyweight title last year in November. The attempt to become a champion in two weight classes ended with Weili losing the bout by a unanimous decision.

There’s a huge possibility the Chinese star could be biding her time, as new champion Mackenzie Dern is set to defend her title against Gillian Robertson in the co-main event of UFC 330, scheduled on August 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

But while the title picture continues to take shape, fans appeared far more interested in Weili’s transformation.

Zhang Weili’s transformation leaves fans awestruck

One fan was quick to draw a comparison. “Transform like Mulan,” they wrote. The analogy stemmed from the transformation of the famous character from Disney’s 1998 animated movie of the same name. One difference, however, remains. Unlike Weili, Mulan uses her father’s sword to cut her long hair and scrubs off her feminine makeup.

One user, meanwhile, teased, “Where’s Zhang, and what did they do with her? The truth will get out that Valentina had her cloned and got rid of the real Zheng Weili so she could actually win against Zhang.” The joke, of course, referred to Weili’s previous meeting with Shevchenko.

When they met at UFC 322, headlined by Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev, Weili was thoroughly dominated by the Kyrgyz-Russian champion. Shevchenko’s size and striking and grappling skills proved too much for the Chinese fighter to overcome, ending her hopes of becoming a champion in two weight classes.

Another user added, “A few punches to the face and we are back to reset 👀.” Joke aside, it is worth wondering why some of those comments were made, especially when Weili didn’t tease or call out anyone.

Taking note of the camaraderie Weili shared with Colby Covington when they addressed the media in the lead-up to UFC 265, where she faced Rose Namajunas in the co-main event, another user wrote, “Colby Covington will finally settle down.”

Given that he is now out of the UFC and is busy with a new chapter in the Real American Freestyle (RAF), where he recently defeated Arman Tsarukyan, it remains to be seen how much of Weili’s transformation Covington notices.

Beyond Merab Dvalishvili’s question and the fans’ reactions, it is likely that Zhang Weili was simply having fun in her spare time.

A consummate professional that she is, Zhang can be expected to return with a major fight that could potentially put her back in the title race.