Zhang rejects Yao comparisons as UFC champion high-kicks the hype

"Now there are no spectators, I feel a lot of things are missing and I don't feel that special excitement," said Zhang.

"That's why I think that spectators are really important. I don't know how I would react if there is no audience.

"I really like spectators cheering for me or even booing me. I like that interaction."

UFC supremo White last week said that UFC will stage a series of bouts on a "Fight Island" in the United Arab Emirates next month to ease travel headaches for international fighters.

Zhang welcomes the idea of competing on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, where UFC staged a card in September last year.

Zhang says that unlike traveling to the United States, she can get a visa on arrival, does not have so far to fly and does not have to suffer jet-lag.

"I've been there before and watched a fight, and I also lived on that island when I was preparing for a fight," she said.

Zhang's new-found stardom has seen many more demands placed on her for media and commercial obligations, while she also has an active presence on social media.

But she says those have not placed any extra pressure on her or distracted her from training, and she knows that believing her own hype would be fatal for her career.

"I told myself that I must not become lazy, I must remember who I am, I should be the same as before I was champion and keep the desire to win," she said.

"I have to keep that in mind, instead of thinking that I have already made it.

"Because once I start thinking like that, it'll fast be the start of the descent."

Agence France-Presse