Zhang Weili is a Legit Moneymaker for the UFC

[Hdfi]

Dreyga is right. And apparently the last event in Shanghai was a financial success to the UFC even without Weili on the card. Imagine if they had an "MMA Yao Ming".


UFC's Shanghai return is a big hit
By SUN XIAOCHEN in Shanghai | 2025-08-25 11:04

Founder and CEO White bullish about sport's future in China saying: 'It's only going to get bigger'

Sold-out arena, fanatic fan following and a growing roster of local talent, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Shanghai has cemented mixed martial arts' sooner-than-expected arrival into China's sports mainstream.

Even with the promotion's only Chinese world champion Zhang Weili watching on the sidelines, the UFC's Shanghai Fight Night, a 12-bout showpiece featuring a record seven Chinese fighters, arrived to thrilling fanfare in the East China metropolis on Saturday night, delivering some brutal knockouts and ferocious takedowns that sent the packed Shanghai Indoor Stadium into frenzy.

Despite the schedule overlapping with a live concert taking place at the stadium next door, the Shanghai Fight Night sold out within a minute when tickets went on sale on July 10, according to Dana White, founder and CEO of the Las Vegas-based MMA organization.

The ticket sales revenue marked the highest single-day record of any live arena event across the country over the past five years, according to the event's co-organizer Orange Lion Sports, an Alibaba subsidiary.
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202508/25/WS68abd2d3a310851ffdb4fe80.html

 

[dominion]

Yeah if only more Chinese could fight better

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

A money making champion sells no matter where they are fighting. Weili doesn't sellout crowds & isn't a PPV draw. It's cool that she is famous in her country, but not being a draw anywhere else isn't good business. Ya she's great for the UFC in China, but not necessarily great for the UFC anywhere else. Her inactivity is also troublesome, & also a reason why there needs a lot of work to be done in her generating money all over the globe.

Where are you getting doesn't sell out crowds from? She's literally only fought in sold out arenas in USA and Australia since she won her first belt.

 

[rjmbrd]

Dreyga is right. And apparently the last event in Shanghai was a financial success to the UFC even without Weili on the card. Imagine if they had an "MMA Yao Ming".


UFC's Shanghai return is a big hit
By SUN XIAOCHEN in Shanghai | 2025-08-25 11:04

Founder and CEO White bullish about sport's future in China saying: 'It's only going to get bigger'

Sold-out arena, fanatic fan following and a growing roster of local talent, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Shanghai has cemented mixed martial arts' sooner-than-expected arrival into China's sports mainstream.

Even with the promotion's only Chinese world champion Zhang Weili watching on the sidelines, the UFC's Shanghai Fight Night, a 12-bout showpiece featuring a record seven Chinese fighters, arrived to thrilling fanfare in the East China metropolis on Saturday night, delivering some brutal knockouts and ferocious takedowns that sent the packed Shanghai Indoor Stadium into frenzy.

Despite the schedule overlapping with a live concert taking place at the stadium next door, the Shanghai Fight Night sold out within a minute when tickets went on sale on July 10, according to Dana White, founder and CEO of the Las Vegas-based MMA organization.

The ticket sales revenue marked the highest single-day record of any live arena event across the country over the past five years, according to the event's co-organizer Orange Lion Sports, an Alibaba subsidiary.
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202508/25/WS68abd2d3a310851ffdb4fe80.html

LMAO. Prompt "is chinadaily.com.cn government run media?"

Yes, China Daily is a state-run media outlet. It is published by the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), which is a state-owned organization. China Daily is considered the official English-language newspaper of the People's Republic of China and serves as a tool for promoting the government's views, policies, and image abroad.

It is honestly sad in 2025 how bad media literacy is in the US. Its reached crisis levels and caused a lot of problems.

 

[Hdfi]

LMAO. Prompt "is chinadaily.com.cn government run media?"

Yes, China Daily is a state-run media outlet. It is published by the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), which is a state-owned organization. China Daily is considered the official English-language newspaper of the People's Republic of China and serves as a tool for promoting the government's views, policies, and image abroad.

It is honestly sad in 2025 how bad media literacy is in the US. Its reached crisis levels and caused a lot of problems.

so what? It's still better than CNN.

 

[KO Shotz]

Where are you getting doesn't sell out crowds from? She's literally only fought in sold out arenas in USA and Australia since she won her first belt.

Lol she isn't selling out arena's on her own. She is a top tier fighter but she isn't really what anyone would call a "draw".

 

[Dreyga Hates You Sherbums]

LMAO. Prompt "is chinadaily.com.cn government run media?"

Yes, China Daily is a state-run media outlet. It is published by the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), which is a state-owned organization. China Daily is considered the official English-language newspaper of the People's Republic of China and serves as a tool for promoting the government's views, policies, and image abroad.

It is honestly sad in 2025 how bad media literacy is in the US. Its reached crisis levels and caused a lot of problems.

Yeah China Daily is state-run, but that’s the point you’re missing. In China almost every big news outlet is government-owned or government-controlled, same with most big companies once they hit a certain size. The state either owns you or tells you what to say. So the idea that they’re out here lying just to make the UFC look good is hilarious. What incentive does Beijing have to pump up a Western fight promotion? None. If anything they’d rather see it flop.

MMA is already looked at as a Western import that threatens the prestige of traditional Chinese martial arts. Remember Xu Xiaodong embarrassing those so-called tai chi masters? The government censored that because it made the old guard look weak. UFC is in that same category: a foreign product that overshadows the homegrown image they want to promote.

So if the state media is actually reporting the UFC sold out an arena, that’s probably the safest bet you’ll ever get that it actually happened. They’ve got every reason not to hype it. The government doesn’t care if Dana White feels good about ticket sales. They care about making sure Chinese combat sports stay on top. If they’re still admitting UFC packed the house, it’s because UFC packed the house.

And like it or not, MMA is becoming mainstream in China. The days when it was some niche “foreign” fad are gone. You can see the shift in the way younger fans show up for these cards, the way fighters like Zhang Weili have national star power, and the fact that events are actually selling out. That’s not propaganda, that’s reality.

 

[Kwic]

More reason that UFC is pissed at Johnny Walker for causing a $1 billion potential China revenue loss

If Johny won the belt that night this is how Dana would look at him (image on the left).

Zhang shat the bed.

 

[Streeter]

Dreyga is right. And apparently the last event in Shanghai was a financial success to the UFC even without Weili on the card. Imagine if they had an "MMA Yao Ming".


UFC's Shanghai return is a big hit
By SUN XIAOCHEN in Shanghai | 2025-08-25 11:04

Founder and CEO White bullish about sport's future in China saying: 'It's only going to get bigger'

Sold-out arena, fanatic fan following and a growing roster of local talent, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Shanghai has cemented mixed martial arts' sooner-than-expected arrival into China's sports mainstream.

Even with the promotion's only Chinese world champion Zhang Weili watching on the sidelines, the UFC's Shanghai Fight Night, a 12-bout showpiece featuring a record seven Chinese fighters, arrived to thrilling fanfare in the East China metropolis on Saturday night, delivering some brutal knockouts and ferocious takedowns that sent the packed Shanghai Indoor Stadium into frenzy.

Despite the schedule overlapping with a live concert taking place at the stadium next door, the Shanghai Fight Night sold out within a minute when tickets went on sale on July 10, according to Dana White, founder and CEO of the Las Vegas-based MMA organization.

The ticket sales revenue marked the highest single-day record of any live arena event across the country over the past five years, according to the event's co-organizer Orange Lion Sports, an Alibaba subsidiary.
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202508/25/WS68abd2d3a310851ffdb4fe80.html

I font hate Weili at all shes an exciting fighter. But she fights like 3 times in 2 years n not because of injury. Theres no real out cry to see her fight that tells you the star power there. Im sure she a China star- great still she doesn’t really generate the interest outside that. Shes fin but doesnt fight enough for me to care much about a wmma fighter . Khamzat and Khabib are different theres an aura with them that makes em must see. Zhsng didn't have it and fight about as often.

 

[GoWokeGoBroke]

Our entire middle class was sold to them . Good ol American greed. Maybe Dana can replace the 500 man roster with 3 dollar per fight yangs and changs .

I’m sure they’ve already ran the numbers and woukd in a second if it could work

Get me off this clown rock

 

[DougieJones]

Magnum is one of the only WMMA fighters I actually care to watch

I would love to see her more active... but I have some suspicions that it's not really her or the UFC's choice

 

[Ara tech]

China in potential is superior to Russia, at least for the MMA market.

Because the chinese market is first bigger, 1billion chinese, and the chinese middle class is wealthier than the russian middle class, so the chinese are one bigger in numbers and bigger in wealth.

China must make it's own MMA promotion, like the russian did with ACA, and to control their economy, and not let foreigners dictate the pace.

The struggle with the UFC and One who always fought for the chinese market, is the lack of product to sell, because only giving bouts to chinese athletes will sell, in a very nationalistic country. The talent pool is poor, and a lot of work is needed to be done.

 

[rjmbrd]

so what? It's still better than CNN.

Yeah China Daily is state-run, but that’s the point you’re missing. In China almost every big news outlet is government-owned or government-controlled, same with most big companies once they hit a certain size. The state either owns you or tells you what to say. So the idea that they’re out here lying just to make the UFC look good is hilarious.

We have a media literacy crisis in the US.

Brutal

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

Lol she isn't selling out arena's on her own. She is a top tier fighter but she isn't really what anyone would call a "draw".

Yes she's been in the comain slot but they wouldn't save her for Madison Square Garden and ufc 300 if she wasn't pulling decent numbers here. We'd need to see her get tapped to headline to see if your theory that you're pushing hard she wouldn't fill an arena is true.

 

[THE PIT VEGAS]

There seems to be this persistent idea floating around that Zhang Weili isn’t really that big of a star, or that women’s MMA in general doesn’t generate money for the UFC. That couldn’t be further from the truth, and the numbers prove it.


Start with UFC 248. Zhang’s fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk didn’t just put on one of the greatest fights of all time—it literally broke the internet in China. ESPN reported that within 24 hours over 100 million people in China had viewed the fight. PP Sports, the streaming rights holder at the time, logged 12.47 million live streams on its platform, along with more than 100 million additional video clicks around the event. The traffic was so overwhelming that their servers crashed. That doesn’t happen unless you’re a true star drawing nationwide attention 【web†source】.

And this is why the UFC’s media rights in China skyrocketed. The original deal with PPTV was estimated around $50 million. After Zhang’s rise, the UFC struck a new exclusive deal with Migu (a China Mobile subsidiary) valued in the high eight figures over five years. That is guaranteed money flowing into the UFC, and Zhang’s presence was a central factor in that jump. When the UFC can show that one fighter generates nine-figure viewership totals and tens of millions of live streams, they have leverage to secure bigger deals with national platforms 【web†source】.

It’s not just about one night of views either. Zhang consistently trends on Chinese social platforms like Weibo and Douyin, pulling millions of followers and hashtags in the tens of millions of views. That level of online traction is exactly what broadcasters and sponsors pay for. When the UFC sells rights in China, Zhang is the face they’re selling.

So the idea that she’s “not that popular” or that WMMA doesn’t bring money is flat-out wrong. Zhang Weili has already proven she can deliver hundreds of millions of views, push streaming platforms to their limits, and help the UFC secure contracts worth tens of millions of dollars in guaranteed revenue. You can argue about her inactivity or her matchups, but denying her star power and financial impact ignores the reality of how the UFC makes money in global markets.

If you look at Zhang Weili’s numbers inside China compared to Alex Pereira worldwide, they’re actually in the same ballpark. Weili has 8.1M on Douyin, 2.3M on Weibo, and about 2M on Kuaishou. Pereira’s Instagram is around 7M. So Weili’s total Chinese following alone edges him out, though hers is concentrated in her home market while his is global.

In China, Weili is a legit sports celebrity beyond MMA. She’s not at the very top like Li Na or Sun Yang who pull 20–30M, but she’s still in that second tier where casual fans know her on the biggest apps. Pereira is massive right now and his popularity is rising fast, but most of his visibility is tied to hardcore MMA fans internationally.

The key is that Weili has cracked into the casual sports crowd in China, while Pereira is still mostly recognized by core MMA fans. In the U.S. terms, think of her like a Jon Jones/Adesanya type—someone with crossover presence in her country. Pereira’s star power is building, but he hasn’t hit that “national name” level in Brazil or globally yet.

And she still got beat by Rose twice.

 

[Dreyga Hates You Sherbums]

And she still got beat by Rose twice.