- Joined
- Apr 11, 2010
- Messages
- 19,136
- Reaction score
- 12,747
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.