Dana White makes UFC 300 title fight announcement and denies bizarre fan request at same time
UFC CEO Dana White has announced that strawweight champion Zhang Weili will defend her crown at the historic event on 13th April against highly ranked Yan Xiaonan.
The 115lb contest will be particularly special as it will mark the first time two Chinese-born athletes will come face to face in the Octagon with a title on the line.
The UFC head honcho announced the news to his 8.8m Instagram followers on Wednesday evening after denying a bizarre fan request.
White first teased the fight announcement on an Instagram live where he interacted with fans.
In recent months, fans have trolled the MMA mogul during his livestreams by saying they want to 'oil him up'.
The bizarre request has become a running joke that has gone viral on TikTok and White has often responded in good humour to the random proposition.
However, he was in no mood to be 'oiled up' ahead of the Weili vs Xiaonan announcement, joking, "Don't be talking about oiling anybody up today you f***ing lunatics."
The promotion's top brass was all about business as he announced what will be Weili's second title defence of her current reign at strawweight.
Zhang's second championship reign started in November 2022 when she defeated Carla Esparza at UFC 281 via second-round submission.
The mixed martial artist with a 24-3 record (8-2 in the UFC) followed that up with her first title defence at UFC 292 in August 2023 with a unanimous decision victory over Amanda Lemos.
Zhang first won UFC gold in August 2019 with a TKO victory over Jessica Andrade.
However, her first stint as champ came to a devastating end when Rose Namajunas knocked her out with a stunning head kick in the first round at UFC 261.
Her opponent at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 13th will be compatriot Xiaonan (15-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC).
The 34-year-old is the UFC's No.2 ranked strawweight in the world and is coming off a knockout win over Jessica Andrade at UFC 288.
Previously she beat Mackenzie Dern after losses to Esparza and Marina Rodriguez.
The bout is the latest addition to the stacked UFC 300 card.
White is yet to reveal the main event on the centennial occasion, but did recently announce that lightweight Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan will be fighting on the night.
Aljamain Sterling vs Calvin Kattar at featherweight, Jiri Prochazka vs Aleksandar Rakic at light heavyweight, and Bo Nickal vs Cody Brundage at middleweight were recently announced as the first three fights for the event.
However, her first stint as champ came to a devastating end when Rose Namajunas knocked her out with a stunning head kick in the first round at UFC 261.
Her opponent at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 13th will be compatriot Xiaonan (15-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC).
The 34-year-old is the UFC's No.2 ranked strawweight in the world and is coming off a knockout win over Jessica Andrade at UFC 288.
Previously she beat Mackenzie Dern after losses to Esparza and Marina Rodriguez.
The bout is the latest addition to the stacked UFC 300 card.
White is yet to reveal the main event on the centennial occasion, but did recently announce that lightweight Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan will be fighting on the night.
Aljamain Sterling vs Calvin Kattar at featherweight, Jiri Prochazka vs Aleksandar Rakic at light heavyweight, and Bo Nickal vs Cody Brundage at middleweight were recently announced as the first three fights for the event.
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