UFC's Zhang Weili set to make her acting debut, co-star Yao Chen opens up on relationship

Zhang Weili's movie debut will be happening sooner rather than later. The UFC women's strawweight champion will star alongside renowned Chinese actress Yao Chen in 'After Typhoon,' which features a female-led cast. On a sitdown with The Hollywood Reporter, Yao spoke about working with Zhang.

As it turns out, Yao and Zhang are not strangers to each other, having actually known each other for some years now. Moreover, she revealed that the two have actually been training over the past two years, which led to a perspective change for Yao when it came to combat sports.

"We've actually been training together for two years. We have a really good relationship. Before I started training with Weili, I never thought I could do combat sports. You know, I thought you had to be really big, with huge muscles, to train that way, but that's not the case at all. As soon as we started training, I realized it's not so much about your body as it is about your mind."

Yao's interview also touched on what she can take from her experience training with the women's strawweight queen.

"I think in life, you can be inspired by so many different people and their different qualities. Just watching her work so hard inspires me to do the same."

Zhang will be eager to make the most of her debut on the silver screen, marking just the second notable UFC fighter besides Conor McGregor to have made a cinematic debut in 2024. The Irishman starred as the main antagonist in the 'Road House' remake.

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Zhang Weili joins a class of UFC women's champions who had acting debuts

Zhang Weili's cinematic debut in 'After Typhoon' follows a tradition of several UFC women's champions transitioning to the silver screen. Ronda Rousey had several roles in blockbuster action films like 'Furious 7' and 'The Expendables 3,' while her career rival Miesha Tate appeared in 'Fight Valley.'

Other UFC women's champions to appear in 'Fight Valley,' were Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm. Meanwhile, ex-women's flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko was the subject of mainstream media attention for her friendship with Halle Berry, with both women starring in 'Bruised,' for which they trained together.