Clinical in her pursuit of glory

"I am happy, but I am not surprised," Shi said.

"Every time I show up, I am the underdog. But, for me and my team, we knew that I would be the champion when I got selected by RTU, because I trained very hard, and my coach Bagher gave me the right strategy. My team knows how good I am."

Shi began taekwondo training at 13 in Kunming, drawn by the cool dobok (taekwondo training uniform) and head kicks. She first tried her hand at MMA training while studying TMC in college, and has since grown obsessed with the deep and versatile essence of the combat sport.

"She looks as normal as any cute and quiet little girl in life, but when she steps into the ring she becomes the aggressive fighter we know. She already has quite an impressive striking style and great fitness," said Zhu Jinqiu, the owner of the club where Shi trains.

Now that she's made her presence felt in the premier promotion, Shi said she will focus more on her foray into the Octagon to realize her dream of a world championship, putting her budding clinical career on hold.

Her next goal is to emulate world titleholder Zhang.

"A lot of friends worry about me in the Octagon, because I am small, even for this division, and I have bad eyesight," said Shi, who has to wear glasses when she's not fighting.

"But in the Octagon I am the boss. I decide how the match is going to go and how the fight is going to be.

"I am going to develop my punches, my takedown, ground control and escape. This time is my evolution from a contender to champion (with RTU), the next goal for me is to become a legend like Weili."

In a later co-main event on the Fight Night card in Macao, another Chinese strawweight contender Yan Xiaonan beat Tabatha Ricci via unanimous decision to relaunch her bid for a title challenge against Zhang. Yan called out to her fellow titleholder, saying that she's ready for a rematch "anytime, anywhere" against Zhang, who defeated Yan to keep her belt in their first meeting at UFC300 in April.