Now, former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria isn’t the only titleholder with Dana White’s stamp of approval to move up a weight class.
Following the action-packed UFC Seattle card, White acknowledged that women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang would be moving up to face the winner of UFC women’s flyweight titleholder Valentina Shevchenko vs. Manon Fiorot.
The flyweight title bout is set to be the co-main event at UFC 315 on May 10, which likely means Weili will face the winner in the fourth quarter of the year—possibly even in December.
Weili is fresh off a dominant win over Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312 on February 8. If there is any champion in the UFC with a strong enough case for moving up in weight, it’s Weili—and Alexandre Pantoja.
The Chinese warrior and pioneer is a two-time strawweight champion with a total of four title defenses. Weili has already defeated the No. 1, 2, 4, and 5-ranked fighters in her weight class.
At 35 years old, Weili would probably love to not have to cut weight to get to 115 pounds and settle in at 125 pounds in search of a title in a second division. With White’s blessing, the opportunity is a foregone conclusion.
We’ll likely need to see who the UFC will match up for the vacant flyweight title before Weili’s move up to flyweight is made official. It would make sense for Suarez to face the winner of the upcoming Yan Xiaonan-Virna Jandiroba scrap set for April 12 in Miami.
Suarez suffered a nasty cut on her knee during the loss to Weili, so she may need some time for the injury to heal before hopping back into the Octagon. If she can make it back by the end of the year, a battle between her and the winner of Yan-Jandiroba for the vacant title seems feasible.
Topuria’s situation might be a little more complicated. He only has one successful title defense, but he has spoken about how difficult it has become for him to make 145 pounds. He wants to move up to lightweight and to challenge Islam Makhachev. That fight hasn’t been announced—as White said, there are multiple possibilities.
Topuria has already vacated the featherweight title, but his next fight is still a mystery. While Diego Lopez will face Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant featherweight strap, Topuria is in a holding pattern.
Topuria doesn’t want to fight No. 1 contender, Arman Tsarukyan. He seemingly wants to go straight into a title shot. I believe he’ll get his wish. Stay tuned.
What’s Next for the UFC?
The promotion is back at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 1. The event, UFC Vegas 103, will be headline by two flyweight contenders, Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev.
Kape and Almabayev hope to earn a title shot with an impressive win. If you’re looking for up-and-comers, talented heavyweight Mario Pinto makes his main roster debut. Here is a look at the entire card.
- Manel Kape vs. Asu Almabayev – Flyweight
- Cody Brundage vs. Julian Marquez – Middleweight
- Nasrat Haqparast vs. Esteban Ribovics – Lightweight
- Austen Lane vs. Mario Pinto – Heavyweight
- William Gomis vs. Hyder Amil – Featherweight
- Danny Barlow vs. Sam Patterson – Welterweight
- Ricardo Ramos vs. Chepe Mariscal – Featherweight
- Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. John Castañeda – Bantamweight
- Andrea Lee vs. JJ Aldrich – Flyweight
- Lucas Almeida vs. Danny Silva – Featherweight
- Montana De La Rosa vs. Luana Carolina – Flyweight
- Charles Johnson vs. Ramazan Temirov – Flyweight
