Ni Hao fight fans, we are back after the first weekend off from UFC fights in what seems like a year. While there is no chance I am able to watch this one live, I will turn off twitter, so when I wake up I can watch what should be an interesting card. We have our first title fight in China along with potentially our first Chinese Champion. Not a stacked card by any means, but a ton of people that love to finish fights. I respect the UFC for making this in their time zone in order to secure some of the Chinese market that One FC has been winning over as of late, but maybe put a couple of bigger names to showcase your talent.
I don’t have too much to say with this card, I do think it is kind of weird that this is what they come back with after a week off. They are leaving their American fans out to dry, pretty much what they have been doing to their European, African, Asian, and Austrailian fans since inception. Dana’s breakdown of tonight’s event didn’t seem too keen on the start time either which shocked me. Stand by your decisions my man, don’t make me feel validated that this is a shit time to start a card, you are making my head to big. But I digress and I will get to what the readers want to see, my picks for the evening. I have been on a decent roll, haven’t been under 50% in 5 cards, so let’s keep this train going.
Main Event
Jessica Andrade vs Weili Zhang Strawweight Title bout
When this was first announced, it was a fucking head scratcher for me. I have been a Joanna fan for so long and I thought pitting her vs Andrade was the obvious move since she has beaten her in the past. UFC pretty much said “Nope fuck you Joanna hard as shit to say last name, we are putting Andrade up against some lady that has one win over a top 15 fighter because fuck you.” I understand. I get it. The UFC has had an incredibly hard time getting the chinese market on board. For a country that holds Martial Arts in such high regard, they have taken a while to warm up to Mixed Martial Arts when compared to their neighbors/enemies a few miles east in Japan. One FC has done a great job winning the fans over their pretty much entirely catering to them, completely ignoring the American market outside of signing a few former UFC fighters. Here we are, with Dana wanting both of the biggest markets in the world and at the cusp of making even more money to not pay fighters with.
Now to the actual fight. Zhang is a hell of a lot better fighter than i thought she was when I first looked at her previous opponents. She has only gone to decision 3 times in all of her 19 wins in a row. Her only loss was in a 2 round fight. Her only somewhat close fight was with Tecia Torres but she still won the unanimous decision. She absolutely, 110%, undoubtedly, should have fought one or two more before getting this shot but I by no means think she is unqualified to be here. She is tough, technical and dangerous and should be an incredibly tough test for the first title defense for Andrade.
Andrade is a fucking animal. I love watching her fight. She is out for blood and will give it all she has to end her opponents night. She may not have as many finishes as Zhang but she was beating and finishing her opponents at bantamweight before she moved down to strawweight. She is 5’2 and was 13-5 at 135, that is completely outrageous. Now she is at her prime weight class and only has one loss to arguably one of the best female fighters in the whole sport (extremely biased I know but Rose is the only one who could figure her out). Her finish of Rose had me as giddy as a schoolgirl, finally a woman that wants to be her and in a better headspace that can keep this weight class going. Getting down to it, this is such a hard fight to pick. We really don’t know where Zhang is weak in her game from her fights that are watchable. She has been so dominant and incredible in these bouts, I haven’t seen her against anyone talented enough to really expose much. Torres landed some hard shots on her but it didn’t stop her from moving forward and picking her apart. Andrade has the heaviest hands in this weight class and could present trouble for Zhang who has never seen power like that at this weight. But fuck it, lets ride the dog here, I am going with Zhang. She is so technically sound and such a smart fighter I do not see her making the same mistake as Rose and letting herself get piled-drived to the mat like that. Weili Zhang, lock that shit in.
Weili Zhang by 4th Round Submission +170 1 unit
Li Jingliang vs Elizeu Zaleski Welterweight Bout
Elizeu Zaleski by 2nd Round Submission -306 2 units
Kai Kara-France vs Mark De La Rosa Flyweight Bout
Mark De La Rosa by Decision +240 1 unit
Kenan Song vs Derrick Krantz Welterweight Bout
Derrick Krantz by 3rd Round TKO +130
Yanan Wu vs Mizuki Inoue Flyweight Bout
Yanan Wu by Decision -135 1 unit
Prelims
Park Jun-Yong vs Anthony Hernandez Middleweight Bout
Park Jun-Yong by 2nd Round TKO +170
Su Madaerji vs Andre Soukhamthath Bantamweight Bout
Andre Soukhamthath by Decision -245 2 units
Jung Da Un vs Khadis Ibragimov Light Heavyweight Bout
Khadis Ibragimov by 2nd Round Submission -365 3 units
Damir Ismagulov vs Thiago Moises Lightweight Bout
Damir Ismagulov by Decision -405 3 units
Heili Alateng vs Danaa Batgerel Bantamweight Bout
Heili Alateng by Decision +135 1 unit
Karol Rosa vs Lara Procopio Bantamweight Bout
Karol Rosa by 2nd Round Submission +125 1 unit
That wraps up this card in Shenzhen, I would love to wake up and find out I won some money. I like a lot of underdogs on this card, but had to take some of the heavy favorites. I will never fault someone for going against a -405 fighter, I respect the hell out of it and do it a lot when I get that gut feeling, but for my record’s sake, these guys are just far more talented and it is hard for me to make that call. To all of my readers due east, and Americans who can stay up that late (or wake up that early), enjoy this card live, I truly hope it delivers for the sake of some up and coming Asian fighters. That is it from me. May luck be your lady tomorrow morning.