综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Sports
Home / Sports / Boxing

Zhang rejects Yao comparisons as UFC champion high-kicks the hype

China Daily | Updated: 2020-06-18 10:01
Share
Share - WeChat
Zhang Weili is put through her paces by coach Ruben Payan at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai on Monday. The 30-year-old Zhang shot to global acclaim after becoming China's first UFC champion last August. [Photo/Agencies]

SHANGHAI-Zhang Weili retained her Ultimate Fighting Championship title in March in one of the greatest women's fights in MMA history, was then stranded in the United States for six weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic and finally flew back to China in a protective suit and visor.

But after all that, it was the sight of airport and medical staff with "welcome home" scribbled on their own protective gear to greet arriving passengers that deeply affected her.

"I was really touched and excited, I've never felt such warmth in all my life," China's first and only UFC champion told AFP in Shanghai.

The 30-year-old Zhang, who as a child was challenged by her mother to jump out of ditches to toughen her up, has enjoyed a life-changing 10 months.

Last August she thrilled a home crowd in Shenzhen with a knockout of UFC champion Jessica Andrade of Brazil in just 42 seconds to make mixed-martial-arts history.

Zhang then successfully defended the strawweight title in a brutal dust-up in Las Vegas in early March against Poland's Joanna Jedrzejczyk, despite her build-up being badly disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.

She boasts a 21-1 MMA record and UFC president Dana White has touted her to rank alongside Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey as a global superstar of the sport.

The excitement surrounding Zhang's swift rise to prominence has reached such an extent in China that she is being mentioned in the same breath as basketball giant Yao Ming, who led the Houston Rockets to the NBA playoffs four times. However, the articulate Zhang, who hails from the northern province of Hebei, gives that lofty comparison a swift verbal jab.

"I am not Yao Ming or anyone else," she said. "I just want to be a better me."

Before the latest Beijing outbreak, the coronavirus had eased in China, allowing Zhang to conduct an open workout for the media at UFC's newly built Performance Institute in Shanghai this week.

But UFC fight nights, like most sports, are taking place behind closed doors to prevent the spread of infections among spectators.

Asked about the pandemic's impact on her daily life, Zhang replied: "My life is about training. So if it affects my training, it affects my life."

Zhang's next opponent has not been confirmed, but the prospect of defending her title with nobody there to cheer, or jeer, is not one she relishes.

1 2 Next   >>|

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
江口县| 东安县| 汶川县| 合阳县| 交城县| 营山县| 九寨沟县| 万州区| 乌恰县| 沁阳市| 炎陵县| 河西区| 桐庐县| 清水县| 乌鲁木齐市| 湖州市| 瑞昌市| 旌德县| 麻阳| 吴堡县| 寿光市| 葫芦岛市| 方正县| 天柱县| 浮山县| 康定县| 巴林左旗| 留坝县| 盱眙县| 日照市| 博爱县| 平顶山市| 嘉禾县| 泌阳县| 葫芦岛市| 伽师县| 花莲县| 兴隆县| 沾益县| 东乌珠穆沁旗| 三都|