Rising Chinese star Wang Cong steals show with "terrifying" Joker cosplay at UFC Macau face-offs

China's Wang Cong appears to have piqued fan interest with her "terrifying" cosplay as the famous DC Comics fictional character, Joker. Fans praised Cong's make-up and demeanor, which many suggested was similar to that of the iconic character.

Cong is a veteran kickboxer and an ex-Kunlun Fight women's lightweight champion. The Chinese MMA fighter also amassed various other accolades in boxing, kickboxing, and Sanda. She partook in the UFC-affiliated 'Road to UFC' tournament earlier this year, subsequently making her main roster debut with a first-round KO against Victoria Leonardo in Aug. 2024.

The 32-year-old Cong is scheduled to make her second appearance inside the octagon. She'll clash against Brazil's Gabriella Fernandes in a women's flyweight bout on the main card portion of the UFC Macau event, which goes down at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China, on Nov. 23, 2024.

During their weigh-in face-off, Cong, who's known to don make-up akin to the Joker for the weigh-ins, continued her tradition by cosplaying as the supervillain. The UFC's official X handle tweeted photographs of her from the weigh-in ceremony.

Many fans chimed in, with several indicating that Wang Cong is a bonafide entertainer as proven by her going all out with the Joker cosplay. One X user wrote:

"Wow...she is back...what an athlete..what an entertainer...go Wang.."

A commenter asserted:

"Don't mess with the joker"

Another observer tweeted:

"I'm starting to be a fan of this woman. I like it"

Some fans suggested that Wang Cong displayed charisma and showmanship as evidenced by the cosplay. Others opined that it was an outdated gimmick, albeit acknowledged that she does commit to it well.

A few netizens disapproved of it, with multiple X users particularly criticizing how her teeth appeared during the face-off. One commenter asserted:

"Those teeth are mad"

Many others alluded to the eerie undertone of Wang Cong's look, with one X user noting:

"This is terrifying af."

Check out the screenshots of a few tweets below:

Screenshots of tweets

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Wang Cong eyes potential fight against UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko

Wang Cong notably defeated Muay Thai and MMA legend Valentina Shevchenko in the sport of kickboxing, securing a razor-thin unanimous decision victory over her at Kunlun Fight 33 in Changde, China, in Oct. 2015. Following her UFC debut this year, Cong called for an MMA bout against 'Bullet.'

Before reclaiming her UFC women's flyweight title in her trilogy fight against Alexa Grasso in Sept. 2024, Shevchenko addressed Cong's call-out. Speaking to MMA Junkie, the Kyrgyzstani-Peruvian combatant highlighted that they clashed in Cong's native China, where the judging was worse than in her rematch against Grasso.

Check out Shevchenko's comments below:

Echoing the sentiments of certain sections of the combat sports community, the 36-year-old implied that to secure a win over a Chinese fighter in China, you have to knock them out, or else you risk losing on the scorecards even if you've outworked them.

Shevchenko dominantly defeated Grasso via unanimous decision to recapture the UFC women's flyweight championship later in September. Cong congratulated 'Bullet' via Instagram.

However, she underscored her disapproval of Shevchenko's opinion that the judges robbed her of a win in their 2015 kickboxing encounter. 'Joker' also continued lobbying for their rematch to materialize in MMA.

Check out Cong's statement below: