Boston Celtics head coach is ‘Team Zhang Weili’! Chinese champion gives Joe Mazzulla invite to UFC 292

Boston Celtic's coach Joe Mazulla will be in attendence at UFC 292. He will come to cheer on the strawweight champion Zhang Weili.

Boston Celtics head coach is ‘Team Zhang Weili’! Chinese champion gives Joe Mazzulla invite to UFC 292

Boston Celtics head coach is 'Team Zhang Weili'! Chinese champion gives Joe Mazzulla invite to UFC 292,(Courtesy: Instagram/ZhangweiliMMA)

Zhang Weili will have the Boston crowd behind her as Boston Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazulla will be cage side at the UFC pay-per-view. A bantamweight title bout between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley headlines the event in Boston.

Zhang Weili will be looking to defend her title against Amanda Lemos in the co-main event of UFC 292. Weili will have the support of the fans as Boston Celtic’s head coach Joe Mazulla will be there to support Wheili. She met Mazulla at the UFC PI last month and shared a picture on Instagram. Boston Globe’s Cam Kerry interviewed Weili and asked about Mazulla. Weili said, “He said yes. At first, he said no because he was conflicted with something on his schedule, but his schedule has changed, so now he can come this Saturday.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT-DokXKGOM&pp=ygULemhhbmcgd2VpbGk%3D

Weili met Mazulla at the PI when the Boston head coach practiced Jiu-Jitsu. The Chinese fighter invited the coach at that time, but the coach had other reservations. With the Celtics starting their training camp in September, Mazulla might have rescheduled his other commitments to be with his fellow Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.

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Weili will be looking to have her first title defense after she reclaimed the title by submitting Carla Esparza. She initially won the title against Jessica Andrade but lost to Rose Namajunas in her second defense of the title. Namajunas has moved up in weight after losing the belt to Esparza, paving the way for the Chinese to win back the title.

Related: “That’s a male gang member” – Fans shocked as first look of Rose Namajunas as flyweight surfaces the internet

Amanda Lemos poses a power threat to Zhang Weili

Boston Celtics head coach is 'Team Zhang Weili'! Chinese champion gives Joe Mazzulla invite to UFC 292
Zhang Weili(L) and Amanda Lemos(R), (Courtesy: Insider)

Amanda Lemos is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most powerful fighter Zhang Weili has ever faced. The Brazilian slugger has tremendous one-punch knockout power that is not normally seen in the lighter women’s divisions. Weili has power, but this will undoubtedly be the first time the Chinese champion faces a fighter more powerful than she is.

Lemos is coming off two consecutive wins, both by finish. Lemos’s only loss in the strawweight division came against Jessica Andrade in a fight she was pressuring Andrade backward but ultimately got caught in a standing arm-triangle chock. Lemos, Andrade, and Namajunas are tied for the most finishes in UFC women’s strawweight history with five. She is also the outright record holder of the most knockdowns landed in UFC women’s strawweight history.

With Amanda Nunes retiring and Charles Oliveira and Deiveson Figueiredo without the belt, Lemos is Brazil’s only hope. Zhang Weili could potentially have an all-Chinese showdown with Yan Xiaonan if victorious at UFC 292. Both fighters’ power points to a finish in the co-main event of UFC 292.

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