Shaquille O’Neal may be 7ft 1in - but that didn’t help him against Zhang Weili.
The NBA icon weighs approximately 25 stone but found out his size is of no use against a trained fighter when he met the UFC's strawweight champion.
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After bumping into the 5ft 4in, 8 stone MMA star at a gym, O’Neal asked her to hit him with a body shot, something Zhang was hesitant to do.
The Chinese fighter initially just touched O’Neal’s stomach with her fist and laughed before the former basketball player implored her to put some pop behind her punch.
Zhang obliged and hit him with a straight right hand to the body.
It probably wasn’t even 20 per cent of her power, but it was enough to hurt O’Neal whose eyes immediately widened as he keeled over in pain.
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Once he had gotten his breath back, the 51-year-old acted as a prop for Zhang who showed off her amazing strength by hoisting him into the air.
Again, O’Neal’s eyes widened with surprise as a woman one-third his size showed she could hurt him with punches and carry him too.
Zhang’s incredible strength may have come as a surprise to ‘Shaq’ and the basketball fans who follow him, but not to anyone who keeps an eye on MMA.
In 2022, the 34-year-old ran into former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who weighed almost 21 stone at the time, and put him over her shoulder like it was nothing.
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While a future in weightlifting may be on the cards for Zhang, right now she’s focused on continuing to build on her legacy as one of the greatest female MMA fighters of all time.
The fan favourite was last seen in action this August when she battered Amanda Lemos over five rounds to defend her belt at UFC 292.
Zhang’s win was so dominant she set a new UFC record by landing 296 strikes - more than any other woman has landed a single fight.
The champion outstruck Lemos, who only connected 29 times, by 267 to set another record for the largest striking differential in a female UFC bout.
Zhang is currently waiting to learn who and when she’ll fight next.
