Who is Yi Zha?

Yi Zha (24-4-0) is a Chinese mixed martial artist competing in the featherweight division. Following his most recent Road to UFC victory against Kaiwen Li via submission to Zha's armbar, he signed with the UFC. This victory came in the UFC Featherweight tournament finals, earning him the UFC contract during his second time around on the Road to UFC.

Born in 1997, Zha had a love for combat sports from a very young age. He trained in both traditional Chinese martial arts and also learned a lot of modern MMA techniques that translated well over in the UFC. After training for years, he began competing at a professional level back in 2011. Over time, he has become one of the UFC's most promising prospects and has shown why on various occasions.

Zha's first career loss came to Mark Abelardo after starting with nine wins and zero losses. However, this was a very minor setback as Zha would go on to win his next three fights before dropping his sustaining his second loss to Chunbo Yuan. However, similar to the loss against Abelardo, this was a very small setback and he racked up more wins after it.

Zha joins a small class of Chinese standout UFC fighters. His potential certainly puts him in the conversation to one day be one of the best fighters inside of a UFC Octagon to represent China. Right now, Zhang Weili and Song Yadong have been voted on by the fans as the best Chinese UFC fighters. But in years to come, Zha could certainly make that list.

The 27-year-old stands at 5 feet 7 inches tall, and has a reach of 70.5 inches. Throughout his last five fights, he's won four and lost just one via split decision. Zha has received a lot of praise for his well-rounded skillset. He possesses lightning-fast striking, as well as being able to take down opponents very effectively and go further into his bag of tricks for submissions. Zha's ability to keep his composure also goes far inside of the Octagon.

At UFC Vegas 97, Zha will face Gabriel Santos. Santos is no slouch in his own right. He has obtained 10 wins and just two losses over his last 12 fights. Santos fights out of Brazil and stands at 5 feet 9 inches. He has a reach of 70 inches with a leg reach of 41 inches. However, Santos is the smaller of the opponent in weight, weighing nearly 10 pounds less than Zha.

This bout could very well come down to one thing, the ground game. Santos and Zha both possess great takedown defense, with Santos being slightly in the lead with 66% to Zha's 59%. Santos also possesses a much better takedown accuracy than Zha, which could very well be the difference maker in this bout. Overall, Santos and Zha look like a very fun matchup, despite Santos being the current heavy favorite here for the bets.

With how young he is, there's still plenty of time for Zha to make himself one of China's most elite fighters in the UFC. This is something that can very much be obtained for Zha, looking back on everything he has accomplished thus far in his career. One thing we know for sure is Zha's future is very bright inside of the UFC Octagon.