UFC champ Zhang Weili has big aspirations for her fighting career moving forward, and wants to make it clear that her inactivity is not her decision.

Zhang is set to return to action this Saturday as she defends her strawweight title against the undefeated Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event of UFC 312 in Sydney. In her most recent outing, Zhang dominated Yan Xiaonan for a unanimous decision win at UFC 300 in April, but fans have wondered why the two-time champ hasn’t competed since then. “Magnum” says it’s because she thought the opportunity to become a two-division champion was on the table, but that never came to fruition.

“This is a very long story, actually,” Zhang told MMA Fighting via a Mandarin translator. “I wanted to fight more, but because what UFC have arranged for me, and also depending on my potential opponent, whether they want to fight me, when they want to fight me, so that’s why I only have fought one time last year because it’s out of my control.

“I work, I was thinking about another fight last year, but there’s so many changes that yes, I didn’t fight. That’s why I was in the Sphere in Vegas watching the fight between [Alexa] Grasso and Valentina [Shevchenko]. I was thinking about fighting another fight, but didn’t happen.”

Now, Zhang faces Suarez—who makes her first octagon appearance since an August 2023 submission win over former champ Jessica Andrade at UFC Nashville—in her second title defense. The 34-year-old Suarez has overcome serious injuries to put herself in position to compete for her first UFC title.

Despite her inactivity, Zhang believes the UFC made the right call in giving Suarez the shot over Virna Jandiroba, and believes the 10-0 competitor may be her toughest test to date.

“I think Tatiana is very different from all my other opponents because my other opponents are not as high level in wrestling and grappling as Tatiana,” Zhang said. “So fighting Tatiana actually makes me more focused on my wrestling and grappling and makes me a better fighter. This pressure became my motivation and makes me a better fighter.”

Zhang is focused on the difficult task at hand, but is thinking about her future as one of the best fighters in the world.

When asked if a win over Suarez would be her last fight at strawweight in lieu of a champ vs. champ fight with Valentina Shevchenko at 125 pounds, Zhang says she isn’t sure how the promotion will lean.

“I think it’s still depending on UFC’s arrangement because a lot of times what I want to do is not happening so I can’t call the shot,” Zhang said.

But, what if she could call the shot?

“Yes, I think if I can make the decision, I think it’s probably my last fight [at 115 with a win].”