Dana White Explains What Makes Israel Adesanya & Weili Zhang Stars

UFC president Dana White says middleweight and strawweight champion, Israel Adesanya and Weili Zhang are stars.

They are both fighting at UFC 248 where Adesanya is looking to defend his middleweight strap against Yoel Romero in the main event. Zhang, meanwhile, is taking on Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event.

For White, he says what makes Adesanya a star is the fact he has a good personality and can fight.

“He’s a good-looking kid, he speaks very well, he can dance,” White said to the media (via BJPENN.com). “He’s got a lot of personality. But at the end of the day, the thing that matters is he can fight. This Romero fight makes him even more interesting. He could be sitting around waiting right now for [Paulo] Costa to get ready—and that’s the fight that should happen. He wants to fight Romero because he feels like his legacy won’t be complete without this Romero fight, which is a very dangerous fight. Nobody wants to fight Romero.”

As for Weili Zhang, Dana White believes being the first UFC Chinese champion and her fighting style has made her into a star.

“You can take all of the things that make her special—first Chinese champion, female, which people love right now—but at the end of the day, she is a gangster,” White said. “She is focused on being the best. I just love this fight. I love this fight with her and Joanna so much. I literally can’t wait for Saturday for this fight. When these two start walking in, I’m going to be going crazy like a giddy little fan. I’m telling you I can’t wait for this fight.”

In order for both of them to remain stars and increase their star power they will need to defend their belts on Saturday.

Do you agree with Dana White’s explanation of why Israel Adesanya and Weili Zhang are stars?