UFC 300 Update: Dana White Announces Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan as One of Title Fights; 2 More Promised

After the announcement of the Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua fight, Dana White promised to shake up the community with some exciting fight announcements, and he delivered exactly that, or at least tried to, with the revelation of star-studded and hyped-up fights for UFC 299 and UFC 300.

The wait for the ultimate announcement is finally over as the UFC CEO has dropped a nuke on the MMA world by announcing a strawweight title fight for the UFC 300. Let’s get into the exciting development.

Dana White’s bombshell announcement for the UFC 300

UFC 300 just got its first title defense and it is a classic Chinese battle between two of the best straw weights in the division. The first title fight that is set to unfold at the UFC 300 is between the strawweight champion of the UFC Weili Zhang vs. Yan Xiaonan. In the announcement, Dana White further claimed that he would talk about two more title defenses the next day.

Zhang is probably one of the most dominant fighters in the women’s division of the UFC. She has a record of 24-3-0 in her resume which speaks for prowess and as per Dana White her last fight against Amanda Lemos was the most dominant strategic win in the women’s division ever. White further boasted how out of those 24 wins, 19 came out of finishes and that’s an 80% finish rate.

Yan, with a record of 17 wins, 3 losses, and 1 no-contest, made waves with a spectacular first-round knockout against former champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 288 in May. Hailing from Shenyang, Liaoning, China, the 34-year-old fighter has showcased her prowess by securing victories in eight out of her last ten bouts. Notably, Yan achieved the milestone of being the inaugural Chinese female fighter signed by the UFC back in 2017.

However, there’s a catch to their matchup, leaving many to wonder whether it is the first choice for the fighters as well as Dana White. Let’s find out.

Was Zhang Weili vs. Alexa Grasso on the cards?

The Weili vs. Xiaonan matchup came out of the syllabus for everyone. No one in the entire community was expecting Xiaonan to get the title fight this soon. The community was not even expecting a strawweight title fight to take place in the UFC 300 but they were expecting something much more than that. A face-off between Alexa Grasso and Zhang Weili.

There were neither any official announcements nor any build-up for the Grasso and Weili fight, but a single Instagram post by the strawweight champion took the internet by storm. Weili shared a screenshot of their interactions on Instagram, where Weili proposed a matchup between them on the UFC 300 fight card, and Grasso agreed to it.

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Despite their willingness to have a faceoff, Dana White had other plans for the strawweight champion. Do you believe that the UFC 300 first title defense is worth it? Tell us about your opinion in the comments below.

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