Zhang Weili’s tweet on Weibo. Photo: Weibo
Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/china/article/3051185/now-i-can-put-my-heart-says-zhang-weili-after-obtaining-us-visa-ufc-248 Mixed Martial Arts
UFC 248: Zhang Weili obtains US visa for title defence – ‘now I can put my heart into this’
- Chinese champion relieved she has finally been given clearance to travel to the US
- Zhang had waited 11 days in Abu Dhabi before she got the green light, saying ‘I have fire in my belly!’
Chinese UFC fighter Zhang Weili can now travel to the United States. Photo: Weibo
Chinese fighter Zhang Weili says she will now be able to “put her heart into her training” after clearing the most important hurdle to defend her UFC 248 title defence in Las Vegas next month: She obtained a US visa.
Making the announcing on her Weibo account on Thursday, the strawweight champion said she could put her mind at ease after more than a fortnight worrying whether she would make the trip to the US on the back of concerns over the novel coronavirus outbreak that has plagued her country.
China’s only UFC women’s champion said she would finally be able to defend her UFC strawweight title and that she can “start losing weight” ahead of her highly-anticipated bout against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the gambling mecca on March 7.
“I got the visa and now I got the go ahead to fight. To be honest, it was not easy [obtaining the visa]. The fight wasn’t going to happen unless I got a visa. Now I got it and I have fire in my belly and I can start losing weight. See you in the United States. Add oil [come on],” the 30-year-old fighter wrote on Weibo.
Zhang is currently in Abu Dhabi after abandoning her training in the Chinese capital earlier this month because of the coronavirus outbreak, now called COVID-19. She leaves for the US on February 25.
Zhang Weili celebrates with the Chinese flag, after beating Jessica Andrade in Shenzhen. Photo: Brandon Magnus/Zuffa
As the US announced travel restrictions on any Chinese traveller departing from China and fearing that her schedule would be disrupted, “Magnum” headed to Thailand only to stop training there after a few days following the spread of the deadly virus in the Land of Smiles.
She then moved her training camp to Abu Dhabi while the UFC worked on expediting her visa. She finally received her visa after 11 days of waiting for approval.
Zhang Weili at the UFC Shenzhen open workouts. Photo: UFC
Earlier this month, UFC president Dana White said Zhang had only left Thailand as a precautionary measure and that there was “no danger” to the UFC 248 co-main event.
“There’s literally no danger whatsoever,” White said of the potential for the fight being cancelled. “She’s training down in Thailand and obviously there’s some things going on. We want to make sure she’s safe.
“The second most infected place right now is Thailand. We’re moving her to Abu Dhabi to make sure everybody’s safe.”