Zhang Weili achieved the feat of becoming strawweight champion for a second time on Saturday when she dethroned Carla Esparza of the belt in the UFC 281 headliner.
After dropping the strap in April 2021, Weili (23-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) climbed back to the top of the mountain with a second-round submission win over Esparza (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) at Madison Sqaure Garden in New York.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Weili’s victory over Esparza at UFC 281.
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MMA Junkie
It's title-fight time! The first of two #UFC281 championship bouts is moments away with Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili.
Full results: https://t.co/IwlReirmPE pic.twitter.com/0rQmUrRFQ9
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) November 13, 2022
Nick Kalikas
#UFC281 Closing Betting Odds via @CircaSports
Weili Zhang -400
Carla Esparza +325@UFC 💰 | @ESPNPlus | @ESPN— Nick Kalikas (@FightOdds) November 13, 2022
UFC
Coming to get her belt back!@MMAWeili enters for another shot at gold #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/GeJLc15u6Y
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
UFC
Enter the two-time strawweight champion! 🏆@CarlaEsparza1 set to defend her title in our #UFC281 co-main pic.twitter.com/v9dbZJBer6
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
UFC
UFC
Time to get this started, shall we?👊 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/8aXydiKQMV
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) November 13, 2022
Terrance McKinney
Weili looks huge for the weight sheesh
— Terrance ‘T Wrecks’ McKinney (@twrecks155) November 13, 2022
Sherdog
This is already better than Esparza's last fight. #UFC281
— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) November 13, 2022
Derek Brunson
If Esparza can gets the job done here tonight . There’s no more sleeping on the Cookie 🍪 Monster . #UFC281
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) November 13, 2022
John Hyon Ko
The scrambles have been gripping. Zhang showing skills to match. 10-9 🇨🇳 #UFC281
— John Hyon Ko (@JHKMMA) November 13, 2022
Fight Ghost
Zhang -700 after 1 round #UFC281
— Fight Ghost (@Fight_Ghost) November 13, 2022
Teddy Atlas
Esparza – Zhang, wow Zhang is so smart and dimensional! #UFC281
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) November 13, 2022
Marc Raimondi
Zhang Weili chokes out Esparza!!! She is the champion once again at strawweight! #UFC281
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) November 13, 2022
Ben Askren
Damn dominance by Zhang. That TD defense was super slick!!
— Funky (@Benaskren) November 13, 2022
Jimi Manuwa
And she made it look easy #ufc281
— JIMI MANUWA (@POSTERBOYJM) November 13, 2022
Sarah Kaufman
What a beautiful display of counter wrestling mixed with offensive grappling in mma
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) November 13, 2022
UFC
GIVE HER THE BELT BACK 🏆@MMAWeili recaptures gold at #UFC281!! pic.twitter.com/su4ioC7DIP
— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022
MMA Junkie
#UFC281 results: Zhang Weili def. Carla Esparza via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:05 – to win strawweight title
Full results: https://t.co/IwlReirmPE pic.twitter.com/oARUKGni5i
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) November 13, 2022
Mike Jackson
That was a nice ass choke. #UFC281
— Mike Jackson, Esq. (@TheTruthJackson) November 13, 2022
Belal Muhammad
She’s getting better every fight
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) November 13, 2022
Miesha Tate
Great grappling exchanges! Excited to see what’s next for Weili #andnew #ufc281 @ufc
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) November 13, 2022
Ronda Rousey
Damn impressive great fight ladies 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼#UFC281 #EsparzaWeili
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) November 13, 2022
