Zhang Weili vs Yang Xiaonian Prediction: No chance for the challenger

The UFC 300 anniversary event will take place on the night of 13-14 April. The co-main event will be a women's title fight between two Chinese women, Zhang Weili and Yang Xiaonian.

Zhang Weili made her UFC debut in 2018, and after three fights, she already held the strawweight title. The year 2021 was a black year for the Chinese woman; she lost both fights (and, consequently, the belt) to Rose Namajunas, but regained it in 2022, and after that, she managed to defend it once.

Her last fight (against Amanda Lemos) was unexpectedly difficult. Lemos knocked down the champion twice or thrice, who was forced to save herself in the parterre. But in this parterre, Zhang beat her opponent; generally, her victory was logical and natural. The experts were sure that Zhang Weili's victory would be more confident.

Yang Xiaonian began her martial arts journey with wushu-sanda and has been competing in the UFC since 2017, but she was never considered an obvious title challenger. By 2021, she got as close to that chance as possible, but she lost two fights in a row and started a new run. Now, Yang is on a streak of two straight wins, and in her last fight, she knocked out Jessica Andrade very hard in the first round.

Obviously, Zhang Weili has more arguments to win—she's a tough puncher and an equally tough fighter. It's unlikely that the champion will take many risks in the stand-up, but we'll see a lot of takedowns and her dominance in the parterre.