interesting Weili interview

Dionysian

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Just enable English subtitles in the video. This is interesting because it is CCTV (state-run) so it incorporates China's mainstream perception of MMA. Any Chinese Sherbros, let me know if something is really off with their translation or my cliffs:

2:00 = Older, small female host asks to get hit by Weili. Weili says no it would be way too hard for you to take, only males can get punched by her.

2:45 = Wore casual clothes for the interview to be comfortable, but she was tempted to wear a dress to show that she likes to be girly outside the sport.

4:20 = Trained traditional MA when she was young. Eventually this leads into her stating that young should be able to follow their dreams / she quit the job that wasn't her dream to go into MMA

6:00 = Interesting cultural commentary here. Host takes mainstream Chinese viewpoint in saying that it looks brutal and asking where the beauty is in it. Weili gives the correct answer in my eyes... pointing out MMA takes everything to see what works best (scientific method applied to fighting basically). Host says that increases the chances of injury and Weili says yes (duh, what works in hurting people increases chances to hurt them). Host then falls back if it has wisdom to it or if it is about power. Weili replies it is both. Host says sports tend to have philosophies behind them and asks what the spirit/logic/philosophy of MMA is. Weili says it is in not giving up/persevering.

7:00 = Weili says she needed to be both humble and relentless in MMA. Host says those might be contradictions. Right off the heels of the conversation from a minute ago, Weili answers with a really smooth comeback here IMO and turns it back to traditional Chinese culture... says humbleness is demanded but also they should be strong/relentless as well. "We are not soft and weak." Good luck disagreeing with that one in China.

8:00 = Lives a simple life. Eaty/sleepy/trainy. Spars only men. Her coach is 70kg (LW). She says doing so makes you realize a SW pro female can't beat a LW pro male. Striking is challenging because of the reach disadvantage.

9:00 = Kind of educating the host some. She asks if the male can take her down. She says yeah, then he tries, then she stuffs him. They explain it is harder to get taken down when you know the person is about to shoot. Host asks "what guidance" they follow when it isn't as rehearsed and Weili points out the obvious: "he does whatever he wants" and the host then understands "so the better your sparring partner, the more it helps you."

10:00 = Eats steak in mornings. She loves soda/sweets and used to sneak sodas after training, but had to cut them out of her diet to remain on top. She can always go back to eating more sweets after she retires.

13:15 = In a nutshell: achieve/believe/conceive. Weili says it much better though of course :)

15:00 = When Joanna said "who's that" to her on social media it irked her a bit because she knew Joanna had to pay attention to ranked fighters in her own division. Says Joanna didn't want to fight her when she only had 3 fights (so just before Weili fought Andrade) because Joanna had nothing to gain/everything to lose.

16:15 = When she first met Andrade she thought she was too small / thought back to her experience of only fighting LW males and that she'd be able to take her. Her confidence came from putting in the work in training. Said her MT coach simulated Andrade and put in so much training/she hit him so often that she cracked his headguard.

18:00 = Felt calm during title fight / saw Andrade's strikes coming and was countering her. She felt faster than her. She said she looked forward to proving her doubters wrong with that fight/educating them on her skill.
 
23:00 = Her goal is to first clean out SW and then to move up and try to take the belt at FLW.

25:00 = Host asks how she felt about Joanna's trash talk. Weili said "Ok. Then I'll beat you with techniques you prefer." So I guess it made her want to beat her striking more? Says she didn't want to get into a trash talk contest with her though, wanted it to be shown in the cage and that it is better to "talk with your fists"

27:45 = Tells host you don't feel much pain in the fight itself.

29:15 = The stronger your opponent is the more you respect them. Smashing someone can just lead to contempt. So that is why even though neither of them spoke to each other throughout the fight, her and Joanna hugged each other at the start of the 5th. Mutual respect through strength.

29:45 = Concedes she didn't fight as strategic as she wanted to in the Joanna fight.

31:15 = Felt sorry for Joanna in the hospital when she saw the state of her face. Said that Joanna told her she'd watch her title defenses from now on and that defending gets harder with time. Says she respected Joanna a lot, so wanted to "protect the belt" and defend it well. Host gives some generalized "normal person" shock at the concept of wanting to destroy each other in the cage and then being "gentle" out of the cage.

33:00 = Was stranded in US because they were worried about potentially catching COVID during the flight and that COVID can kill a career. Was nervous being in quarantine/not training while her opponents were training.
 
36:00 = Hasn't had a street fight since she turned pro, because she knows she'd destroy a normal person. Why fight casually when you get paid to fight professionally.

36:15 = Host says whoever marries her might have to worry about domestic abuse. Weili says how dumb that is and no one says a surgeon has to operate when they go home. Another good comeback IMO. She says she'd be "just like any normal girl who gets angry" instead.

37:00 = Host asks what kind of man she wants. Weili says a guy that she gets along with and that supports her. There you have it Sherdoggers.

38:45 = Is ready for the day that she loses / will pass the belt along with dignity just like it was passed to her. "But not now." Hopes that next generation (in China in particular I'm assuming) trains MMA. She hopes her championship inspires this. Ends the interview by saying that becoming a legend is higher than becoming a champion.
 
Nice! Big thanks for the transcription too! Between Tank yesterday and now this, my hunger for interesting MMA related talks has been satisified for a while :)
 
Great cliffs. I liked the first post but I must save the rest of my likes for the Tapology posters in the pbp. If the thread is around tomorrow, I’ll come back and like the other two.

Weili is one of the few fighters I’m a fan of. She has a mental aspect around her that is very strong. As well as obviously being very physically tough. She fights in a very tough division. Even tougher now than when Joanna was in her first couple of defenses.

Her record is unparalleled in wmma right now, and I think she has the tools that will allow history to see her as one of the best ever.

War Weili.
 

Just enable English subtitles in the video. This is interesting because it is CCTV (state-run) so it incorporates China's mainstream perception of MMA. Any Chinese Sherbros, let me know if something is really off with their translation or my cliffs:

2:00 = Older, small female host asks to get hit by Weili. Weili says no it would be way too hard for you to take, only males can get punched by her.

2:45 = Wore casual clothes for the interview to be comfortable, but she was tempted to wear a dress to show that she likes to be girly outside the sport.

4:20 = Trained traditional MA when she was young. Eventually this leads into her stating that young should be able to follow their dreams / she quit the job that wasn't her dream to go into MMA

6:00 = Interesting cultural commentary here. Host takes mainstream Chinese viewpoint in saying that it looks brutal and asking where the beauty is in it. Weili gives the correct answer in my eyes... pointing out MMA takes everything to see what works best (scientific method applied to fighting basically). Host says that increases the chances of injury and Weili says yes (duh, what works in hurting people increases chances to hurt them). Host then falls back if it has wisdom to it or if it is about power. Weili replies it is both. Host says sports tend to have philosophies behind them and asks what the spirit/logic/philosophy of MMA is. Weili says it is in not giving up/persevering.

7:00 = Weili says she needed to be both humble and relentless in MMA. Host says those might be contradictions. Right off the heels of the conversation from a minute ago, Weili answers with a really smooth comeback here IMO and turns it back to traditional Chinese culture... says humbleness is demanded but also they should be strong/relentless as well. "We are not soft and weak." Good luck disagreeing with that one in China.

8:00 = Lives a simple life. Eaty/sleepy/trainy. Spars only men. Her coach is 70kg (LW). She says doing so makes you realize a SW pro female can't beat a LW pro male. Striking is challenging because of the reach disadvantage.

9:00 = Kind of educating the host some. She asks if the male can take her down. She says yeah, then he tries, then she stuffs him. They explain it is harder to get taken down when you know the person is about to shoot. Host asks "what guidance" they follow when it isn't as rehearsed and Weili points out the obvious: "he does whatever he wants" and the host then understands "so the better your sparring partner, the more it helps you."

10:00 = Eats steak in mornings. She loves soda/sweets and used to sneak sodas after training, but had to cut them out of her diet to remain on top. She can always go back to eating more sweets after she retires.

13:15 = In a nutshell: achieve/believe/conceive. Weili says it much better though of course :)

15:00 = When Joanna said "who's that" to her on social media it irked her a bit because she knew Joanna had to pay attention to ranked fighters in her own division. Says Joanna didn't want to fight her when she only had 3 fights (so just before Weili fought Andrade) because Joanna had nothing to gain/everything to lose.

16:15 = When she first met Andrade she thought she was too small / thought back to her experience of only fighting LW males and that she'd be able to take her. Her confidence came from putting in the work in training. Said her MT coach simulated Andrade and put in so much training/she hit him so often that she cracked his headguard.

18:00 = Felt calm during title fight / saw Andrade's strikes coming and was countering her. She felt faster than her. She said she looked forward to proving her doubters wrong with that fight/educating them on her skill.


Nice read!

Luv her mindset here.

She is turning into quite the treat!
 
This also reminds me that China has some interesting hurdles to overcome when it comes to MMA.

Same with the UFC having hurdles to overcome with China.
 
This also reminds me that China has some interesting hurdles to overcome when it comes to MMA.

Same with the UFC having hurdles to overcome with China.
True. Check out the story of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Xiaodong in case you didn't know the backlash relative to this notion of MMA vs TMA over there.

Honestly, I think if anyone can bridge the cultural divide, it would be Weili. Doesn't hurt that she is a great ambassador in addition to being undisputed international champ of her craft.
 
This was actually one of the best MMA interviews I've ever watched. Mostly because the lady who was interviewing was kind of hilariously ill informed.

She literally thought there might be a higher chance of Zhang Weili beating up a would-be husband or boyfriend in a domestic situation. Apparently "lots of fans" (in China) were worried about this. lol
 
Nice! Big thanks for the transcription too! Between Tank yesterday and now this, my hunger for interesting MMA related talks has been satisified for a while :)
Thanks TS
Not gonna watch the video but nice breakdown. She comes off well.
Great cliffs. I liked the first post but I must save the rest of my likes for the Tapology posters in the pbp. If the thread is around tomorrow, I’ll come back and like the other two.

Weili is one of the few fighters I’m a fan of. She has a mental aspect around her that is very strong. As well as obviously being very physically tough. She fights in a very tough division. Even tougher now than when Joanna was in her first couple of defenses.

Her record is unparalleled in wmma right now, and I think she has the tools that will allow history to see her as one of the best ever.

War Weili.
Nice read!

Luv her mindset here.

She is turning into quite the treat!
Awesome interview, thanks for the cliffs TS.

I wonder how the Chinese public will react to MMA and if they will accept it with open arms.
Thanks for taking the time to give such great cliff notes. Weili is awesome -- wish we had more fighters like her.
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My pleasure guys.
This was actually one of the best MMA interviews I've ever watched. Mostly because the lady who was interviewing was kind of hilariously ill informed.

She literally thought there might be a higher chance of Zhang Weili beating up a would-be husband or boyfriend in a domestic situation. Apparently "lots of fans" (in China) were worried about this. lol
Yeah it was useful though. If a significant portion of the audience thinks similarly silly things this interview is a great way for Weili to dispel those inaccuracies.
 
She is good at building narratives or more likely she was well coached by her Manager. She knows she provoked Joanna during the ceremonial workout by giving her fans the finger. That's what Joanna mentioned to her when they faced off and Weili told her to shut up. Again her Manager's creation.

He was the one who concocted the bullshit allegation that JJ's fans were yelling obscenities at Weili at the ceremonial workout. There was video of the incident and no yelling can be heard. The JJ fans, wearing black shirts with giant white letters spelling "JJ" on the front, she gave the fingers to didn't seem to react until after they got the finger and I don't recall anybody doing anything but acting surprised a pro fighter would give such a reaction.

Why play the heel and then pretend to be the opposite.

I didn't really dislike Weili until after that stunt. Funny how her Manager was also involved in making me hate Rose, really liked her prior, by pulling the same shit against Joanna.

Don't put athletes on a pedestal or look to them for moral inspiration. To be that competitive and successful they all have to be somewhat narcissistic and sociopathic.
 
thanks and interesting stuff.

so Weili is single?
 
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