The rise of Zhang Weili in the UFC was nothing short of meteoric. She arrived on a 16-fight win streak at UFC 227 on August 4, 2018. She won the UFC Women's Strawweight belt at UFC Shenzhen on August 31, 2019. She then cemented her position in the company with a win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the woman considered the best ever in that weight class, that can only be described as a classic.

At the end of the year, when combat sports outlets were putting together their awards, it repeatedly won Fight of the Year, something a women's MMA bout had never done before.

Zhang and Jedrzejczyk went through hell over five rounds. It was so brutal that it took 13 months for Zhang to defend her belt again – Jedrzejczyk still hasn't returned and has begun working on TV shows in Poland, a sign that she expects to retire sooner rather than later.

Zhang's opponent, Rose Namajunas, has oscillated wildly. On a good day, she's the absolute best in the division; she's a former champion and won it by knocking out Jedrzejczyk, something not even Zhang could do. Then on a bad day, she's sloppy and, at her worst, she talks about retirement. After getting slammed and knocked out by Jessica Andrade at UFC 237 on May 11, 2019, Namajunas began talking about leaving the sport behind and opening a farm instead.

It isn't that she lacks commitment, her mental health troubles are well documented and, though it's trite, it's fair to say she's a fighter who experiences the ecstasy of victory and the agony of defeat on emotional levels higher and lower than most others.

As ring announcer Bruce Buffer was introducing Namajunas, she could be seen taking deep breaths and muttering to herself "I'm the best" over and over. On the other side of things, Zhang was as cool, calm and collected as ever. She looked over to Namajunas and raised her fist, a sign that meant she was asking if they would start with a glove tap, and Namajunas shook her head; the challenger was taking this deadly seriously.

Zhang's success has always come by beating her rivals at their own game. Andrade is a fighter who constantly moves forward and bullies her opponents – and that's what Zhang did to her, TKOing her in 42 seconds to win the belt. Jedrzejczyk is a perpetual motion machine that chips away at opponents until there's nothing left – and that's how Zhang fought when she beat her at UFC 248.

Namajunas is a sneaky striker who combines aspects of taekwondo, karate and kickboxing and from the opening bell, Zhang attempted to match and for the first time, couldn't keep up. Before a punch was even thrown, Namajunas was showing off angles that would confuse the very best. She was bouncing back and forth, in and out, diagonally, and Zhang could only pivot to ensure Namajunas stayed ahead of her.

She landed a few inside leg kicks and Namajunas did the same, she also tagged Zhang with a jab from distance. It had the making of a slow build. Then Namajunas knocked her out.

At 1:14 of Round 1, Namajunas went right, setting up a low kick, then juked left and went high instead. As Zhang hit the floor, Namajunas pounced and finished her off with hammer fists. As the arena exploded in shock – 15,000 were in attendance, the first crowd allowed at a U.S. UFC event in over a year – Zhang walked around in shock contesting the decision.

There was nothing to argue. As seen in the slow motion replay, as her hand came down to block, Namajunas' foot came up and caught her clean on the chin. She was out cold and was woken up by the impact she made with the mat. Referee Keith Peterson's stoppage was correct.

As UFC President Dana White put the belt around Namajunas' waist, she was in tears and has become the first woman to be a two-time champion in the UFC: Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey and Jedrzejczyk couldn't do it. She was telling herself "I'm the best," now everybody knows she is.