Air Francis Cleared For Takeoff

Former UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili is gearing up for her UFC 281 pay-per-view (PPV) title fight against current 115-pound titleholder Carla Esparza, a five round showdown scheduled for Sat., Nov. 12, 2022 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Sounds like heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is picking “Magnum.”

“I can’t believe that Zhang Weili just picked me up like I wasn’t 293 pounds,” a shocked Ngannou wrote on Twitter. “I didn’t want her to do it, I was scared of her hurting her back and was trying to explain this to her … then found myself suddenly up in the air. Her strength ratio is through the roof.”

Weili has 11 knockouts in 22 wins.

Esparza, 34, captured the crown with a tepid decision win over longtime rival Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 back in May. “Cookie Monster” (19-6) is the winner of six straight with three of those contests ending by way of split decision. As for the 33 year-old Weili (22-3), she dropped consecutive title fights to Namajunas but recently bounced back by knocking out Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275.

To see the rest of the UFC 281 fight card and PPV lineup click here.