Zhang to defend strawweight title vs. Yan in April

The UFC’s next milestone event will have a first — two Chinese athletes fighting one another in a title bout.

Zhang Weili will defend her UFC women’s strawweight title against countrywoman Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 on April 13 in Las Vegas, UFC CEO Dana White announced Wednesday night on social media. It is the first title fight announced for the event, which is likely to have at least one, if not two, more championship matchups.

Zhang vs. Yan is the fifth bout announced for UFC 300, joining Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan, Jirí Procházka vs. Aleksandar Rakic, Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar and Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage. The card already has four current or former UFC champions booked.

ESPN has Zhang ranked as the top pound-for-pound women’s MMA fighter in the world, with Yan ranked No. 7.

Zhang (24-3), the UFC’s first Chinese-born champion, has won three in a row, two by finish. The Handan, Hebei, China native is a two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion. She won the belt for a second time, beating Carla Esparza at UFC 281 in November 2022. Zhang, 34, is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Amanda Lemos at UFC 292 in August. That was her second overall successful title defense across the two reigns.

Yan (17-3, 1 NC) is coming off a first-round knockout of former champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 288 in May. The Shenyang, Liaoning, China native has won eight of her past 10 fights. Yan, 34, was the first Chinese women’s fighter to be signed by the UFC in 2017.