Zhang Weili to defend strawweight title vs. Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300
UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili will put her title on the line against Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 on April 13 in Las Vegas, UFC CEO Dana White announced Wednesday.
It marks the first-ever UFC title fight between two Chinese fighters. Zhang is the only Chinese-born champion in UFC history, winning the title for the first time in 2019. Yan became the first Chinese women's fighter signed to the UFC in 2017.
Zhang began a second reign as 115-pound champion by defeating Carla Esparza via submission at UFC 281 in November 2022. She's coming off a successful title defense against Amanda Lemos at UFC 292 last August.
Yan has been building momentum leading up to UFC 300 with two consecutive victories. She scored an impressive knockout victory over Jessica Andrade at UFC 288 last May and beat Mackenzie Dern by majority decision in October 2022.
Zhang owns a record of 24-3 in MMA, while Yan is 17-3 (1 NC).
The bout is the first title match announced for UFC 300. Other matchups on the highly anticipated event include a lightweight meeting between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan and a light heavyweight bout featuring Jiri Prochazka and Aleksandar Rakic.
White added that he'll announce at least two more fights for the card Thursday.