UFC 292 is set to begin on Saturday, August 19, live from the TD Garden in Boston, Ma. There is a six-bout main card headlined by a bantamweight title bout between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley. Also, look out for a women’s strawweight title bout between Zhang Weili and No. 5 Amanda Lemos. The main card will get started at 10:00 p.m. EDT and be available for streaming on ESPN+.
Weili ( 23-2) will look to defend her title for the first time during her second run as women’s strawweight champion. She won the title in 2019 but lost it in 2021 to Rose Namajunas. Weili defeated Carla Esparza at UFC 281 in November 2022 to win back her title. She defeated Esparza via second-round submission using the rear naked choke. During that bout, she landed 37 of 78 significant strikes, 47 percent of them. Weili also landed 13 of 15 significant strikes from the ground that helped lead her to the submission victory.
The champion did a good job defensively limiting the number of significant strikes that Esparza could land. Between the two rounds, she only landed 6 of 32 significant strikes.
Weili was extremely motivated to get her title back, and now that she has it, she will need to avoid an upset from a young upstart opponent in Lemos. Weili will need to avoid the aggressiveness from Lemos, who will look to come out and get the victory. The latter lands 57 percent of the ones that she throws, and to get the victory, she will need to get the KO or submission.
The Champion is currently the betting favorite at -310 according to DraftKings Sportsbook.