For the next six years, only winning would do for Zhang.

She went on to win 11 straight fights, all submissions, technical knockouts (TKO’s) or knockouts (KO’s). Between April 17, 2014, and February 25, 2017, she was on a mission to become “the first Chinese champion, and I made it”, Zhang said after stunning the No 1-ranked Brazilian, Jéssica Andrade, with a 42-second TKO on August 31 to claim the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Women's Strawweight Championship title.

Scrapes and schoolyard fights

Zhang’s childhood in Hebei province was filled with scrapes, schoolyard fights, sports and training in martial arts – inspired by the success of pioneering former women’s world champion Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey.

Zhang was a tough little girl and often defended her friends, who relied on her when bully boys pushed them around. “I would make them run,” Zhang said. “I loved to do that, to protect my friends. I wasn’t afraid of the bullies or of a fight.”

Zhang’s mother did not discourage her little girl’s pluckiness. Instead she fostered it. “My mother would dig a hole in the yard and get me to jump in and jump out,” Zhang said. “If I could jump out, she would just dig a deeper hole and make me try again. She always had a mind to make me stronger.”

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She would go on to train formally and become a stand-out talent in Chinese kick-boxing, or sanda. But, MMA held far more appeal to her. Zhang loved the challenge of mixing up all martial arts techniques, which brought her to her first professional bout in 2013 against Meng Bo. And her only loss.

Following 11 straight wins, in May 2017, Zhang beat Simone Duarte with a second-round TKO for the Kunlun Fight strawweight championship, at Kunlun Fight MMA 11 in Jining, Shandong province. She defended her title with a unanimous decision against Aline Sattelmayer at Kunlun Fight MMA 12 two months later, in Yantai, Shandong province.

She used her fear of failure, from her opening professional fight, to emerge triumphant in every subsequent fight.

Zhang knew that she had to continue winning for her MMA career to progress. A UFC title would show she was not another flash in the pan whose light flickered briefly before being extinguished.

Zhang challenged South Korea’s Ye Dam Seo for the vacant Top FC strawweight championship at TOP FC 15 in Seoul on July 22, 2017, and she captured her second title via a second-round TKO.

Something magical began to kick in for Zhang in the second round. The following month at Kunlun Fight MMA 14, against Marilia Santos in Yantai, Zhang found the magic again in the second round, as another TKO helped her defend her KLF title.

Zhang would fight one more time for KLF, amassing a 16-1 record before getting a call from the UFC.

Bianca Sattelmayer was her final stepping stone at MMA 15 in Seoul, and a win by submission.

Onto the UFC

The doubters said, “Man cannot fly”

The doers said, “Maybe, but we’ll try”

And finally soared in the morning glow

While non-believers watched from below

Bruce Lee

Zhang made an impressive UFC debut at UFC 227 in Los Angeles on August 4, 2018, claiming a unanimous decision against Danielle Taylor, an American mixed martial artist and strawweight King of the Cage (KOTC) champion.

Mexican-American Jessica Aguilar, the reigning World Series of Fighting (WSOF) women’s strawweight champion, was her next opponent at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Ngannou 2 in Beijing in November 2018. It only took Zhang one round to win via a submission.

Zhang was only two fights away from the UFC title as she started 2019, her sixth year as a professional fighter.

She beat America’s Tecia Torres, ranked No 13 in the strawweight division, via unanimous decision at UFC 235 in Los Angeles on March 2.

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Zhang was now on the brink of making history as the first Chinese champion in UFC history.

Brazilian Andrade, the world’s top-ranked fighter, was now the only obstacle standing in her way of the UFC world title.

In Shenzhen on August 31, did Zhang ever think back to the night she lost to Meng Bo, the only blemish on her professional record?

42 Seconds and UFC strawweight champion

Andrade vs Zhang was the biggest UFC bout to be held in China.

For Zhang, it was another dramatic first-round win against a world champion. She became the new strawweight champion – gloriously on home soil. The vastly more experienced Brazilian, who came in the fight tied for the most wins by a woman in UFC history with 11, lasted only 42 seconds before falling to Zhang by technical knockout. The Chinese fighter became the new champion in addition to earning the Performance of the Night bonus award.

“As a Chinese person, I feel so proud,” Zhang said after the fight. China is equally proud of its first UFC champion.

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