Astonishing moment 52kg MMA star Weili Zhang stuns 132kg UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou by EASILY lifting him off the ground: ‘Her strength ratio is through the roof!’
- Strawweight fighter Zhang had no problems lifting Ngannou up recently
- World champ was worried she’d hurt herself before her next fight
- He was soon left shocked by her incredible pound-for-pound strength
Tiny octagon star Weili Zhang has easily done what many of MMA’s biggest fighters have found impossible by lifting hulking UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou off his feet in a viral video.
Zhang, 33, stands just 162cm and weighs in at 52kg, but she walked straight up to Ngannou as they trained at the same gym recently and asked if she could try picking him up.
The 132kg Cameroon-born knockout artist was stunned at first and didn’t want to give her the chance because he was afraid she’d get injured.
‘No, don’t get hurt, you have to fight! After you fight, yeah,’ he replied.
The strawweight dynamo had no issues whatsoever with lifting Ngannou off the ground – something many heavyweight fighters have tried and failed to do
When an onlooker told him Zhang is a ‘strong girl’, he remained unconvinced, telling him, ‘She’s going to hurt her back.’
But the Chinese warrior wouldn’t take no for an answer and soon convinced Ngannou to let her try.
Zhang pretended to throw a jab at him to set him up for the takedown move, then leaped in, drove her left shoulder into his hip, wrapped her arms around his leg and lifted him off the ground with minimal effort.
A shocked Ngannou laughed and said, ‘Oh, OK!’ after her feat of strength and later posted the video on his Twitter account with the caption: ‘I can’t believe that @zhangweilimma just picked me up like I wasn’t 293lbs.
Zhang (pictured during her knockout win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk in June) lifts weights that would put many male athletes to shame during her gruelling training sessions
At 193cm and 132kg, Nagannou – who has earned the nickname ‘The Predator’ thanks to his stellar record in the octagon – is a handful for even the most powerful UFC heavyweights
‘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 suddenly found myself up in the air.
‘Her strength ratio is through the roof.’
The 36-year-old has rarely been taken off his feet in his MMA career, which has seen him amass 17 wins – 12 by knockout – with just three losses, so it’s safe to say many heavyweights would feel jealous after seeing the footage.
Proof looks can be deceiving: Despite her small stature, the Chinese MMA star is more than capable of back-slamming the biggest, baddest men in the UFC
A quick look at Zhang’s training videos would have convinced Ngannou she was in no danger of doing her back as she pressed him off the ground.
The powerful fighter from Handan in Hebei Province – who boasts a record of 22 wins and three losses in the strawweight division – lifts weights that would put many male professional athletes to shame.
In one especially astounding video she’s seen driving a barbell loaded with well over 200kg off the ground with powerful hip thrusts.
She’s due to fight Cara Esparza at UFC 281 in New York on November 12.
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