UFC on ESPN+ 15 breakdown: Weili Zhang has tools to upset Jessica Andrade, but is she ready?
MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for UFC on ESPN+ 15.
UFC on ESPN+ 15 takes place Saturday at Universiade Sports Center in Shenzhen, China. The main card streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN.
Jessica Andrade (20-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC)
Staple info:
- Height: 5’2″ Age: 27 Weight: 125 lbs. Reach: 62″
- Last fight: KO win over Rose Namajunas (March 11, 2019)
- Camp: Parana Vale Tudo (Brazil)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/muay Thai
- Risk management: Fair
Supplemental info:
+ UFC strawweight champion
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt
+ Muay Thai blue belt
+ 7 KO victories
+ 7 submission wins
+ 8 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Relentless pace and pressure
+ High-volume striker
^ Combinations and bodywork
+ Strong inside the clinch
^ Trips, throws, high-crotch lifts
+ Strikes well off the breaks
+ Solid top game
^ Pressures, postures, strikes, passes
Weili Zhang (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC)
Staple info:
- Height: 5’4″ Age: 30 Weight: 125 lbs. Reach: 63″
- Last fight: Decision win over Tecia Torres (March 2, 2019)
- Camp: Black Tiger Fight Club (China)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
- Risk management: Fair
Supplemental info:
+ Regional MMA titles
+ Wushu sanda background
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt
+ 9 KO victories
+ 7 submission wins
+ 10 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Aggressive pace and pressure
+ Wide variation of striking arsenal
^ From fundamentals to spinning attacks
+ Strong inside the clinch
^ Elbows, knees, trips, tosses
+ Shows serviceable wrestling and scrambling
+ Solid transitional grappling
^ Works well from top and bottom
Point of interest: Prominent pressure
The main event in Shenzen features a potentially historic strawweight title fight between two aggressive fighters who are no stranger to pressure.
Coming out like the proverbial bull in a china shop, the newly-minted champion Jessica Andrade is your quintessential pressure-fighter.
Akin to the female version of John Lineker, Andrade is most effective when able to get her opposition on the back foot and fleeting toward the fence. Once able to corral her opponent in between the cage and inner-black octagon lines, the 27-year-old Brazilian will unleash in left-to-right continuums, variating well to the body with regularity.
Still, in chasing her prey down the two-way street of pressure, Andrade will traditionally open herself up to counters. And though Andrade has been able to take the offerings that have come her way thus far in this division, she may want to be careful about trying her luck too willingly in this matchup.
Enter Weili Zhang.
Though listed as a fighter who hails from a wushu sanda background, Zhang may as well have been built in a lab given all the skills she shows to possess as a fighter. The strawweight standout can either come forward aggressively behind a high guard or counter competently while staying light on her feet, all while using feints to open up kicks and hooking combinations.
Like many sanda practitioners, Zhang is also not shy when it comes to using spinning attacks. Whether she’s corralling her opponents into turning sidekicks or countering with spinning backfists, the 30-year-old seems confident striking from multiple roles and ranges.
That said, given that Zhang will be facing her most formidable forward-moving threat to date, I will be curious to see if Andrade’s pressure forces her to lean heavily on her kicks and counters or makes the Chinese challenger try her luck by locking up in the clinch.
Next point of interest: Winning the wrestling