Former UFC champ Zhang Weili stuns fans with glamorous makeover — 'Is this AI?'

It is hard to overstate how much this sent MMA fans into a frenzy.

Former UFC women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili (36, China) stunned fans after a professional makeover left her looking almost unrecognizable.

Zhang posted a video to her social media on Tuesday showing herself in full makeup. Her porcelain skin, bleached long hair, sharp nose, doe-like eyes and cherry-red lips drew immediate comparisons to K-pop girl group idols.

One of the most accomplished fighters in Asia, Zhang has earned widespread acclaim — not only in China but around the world — for both her formidable skills and her approachable, down-to-earth personality.

She typically keeps a bare-faced look with only light base makeup, a short masculine hairstyle and tanned skin from years of training, which — combined with her muscular physique — had led some to jokingly say she looked like a man.

The transformation left fans genuinely shocked. In the photos, it is nearly impossible to find a resemblance to her usual self. Some immediately questioned whether the images had been digitally generated by AI.

Zhang denied the AI allegations, saying she "learned how to do makeup from a professional makeup artist."

Zhang (26 wins, 4 losses) vacated the strawweight title to pursue a move up to flyweight, but fell short of the belt last fall when Valentina Shevchenko decisively beat her in the UFC 322 co-main event in New York. While Zhang was away, Mackenzie Dern claimed the vacant strawweight title.

Zhang has yet to return to competition. She is widely expected to come back to the octagon this year and resume her career at strawweight, with champion Dern reportedly preparing for a potential title fight against her.