- Weili Zhang, the UFC's strawweight champion, has at last returned to China.
- Zhang had been stuck in Las Vegas until Monday, April 20, more than 6 weeks after her March 7 title defense against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
- Zhang and Jedrzejczyk engaged in a brutal war and left the Octagon with disfigured faces.
- Due the thumping nature of the bout, the UFC wanted Zhang to stay in the US for a few more days to do media duties. But the worsening spread of COVID-19 meant it was not safe to leave until now.
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Weili Zhang has finally returned to China six weeks after being stranded in Las Vegas because of the coronavirus.
Zhang had been in the United States since late February to go through the final preparations ahead of a defense of her UFC strawweight world title against the former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk on March 7.
Zhang and Jedrzejczyk exchanged an extraordinary 783 strikes in 25 minutes. The battle was so brutal they left the UFC Octagon with disfigured faces and went to hospital separately, where Zhang then cried "for hours."
As the fight was reported on around the world, transcending beyond the mixed martial arts community, the UFC asked Zhang to stay in Nevada for a few more days to fulfill media obligations.
However, with the worsening spread of COVID-19, Zhang stayed in the city for another six weeks as it was safer to do that than return to her home country.
On Sunday, the ESPN MMA reporter Ariel Helwani tweeted that Zhang would be flying home on the Monday. He then said: "They'll have to stay in a hotel for two weeks and then they can go back home."
"It feels like yesterday when everyone was together and soon we will be again," Zhang said Saturday on Instagram.
She then thanked her team-members, together with the UFC and its president Dana White "for taking care of me."
As of Tuesday, there has been 2,495,994 confirmed cases of the coronavirus which has helped cause 171,255 deaths. The US is the epicenter of the disease with 787,960 cases and 42,364 deaths.
"We must thank the doctors and nurses that have been fighting this virus so we can all come together again," Zhang said. "I miss everyone but good times will come to us all again."
Read more:
Joanna Jedrzejczyk said she hates the horrific facial injuries she's sustained in UFC because she's 'still a woman' and wants 'to be attractive'
Watch the UFC slo-mo footage showing the punches that disfigured Joanna Jedrzejczyk's face
Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk deserve $10 million for fighting until disfigured, according to a UFC middleweight
Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk given 2-month medical suspensions after their 25-minute war
Joanna Jedrzejczyk's trainer wants an immediate rematch between his fighter and Weili Zhang
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