Former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk has stated her belief that current titleholder Weili Zhang will prove to be a similar opponent style wise to a fighter she’s already defeated, Jessica Andrade, when they fight at UFC 248 in March.
“They (Zhang and Andrade) both are are very similar fighters,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Going forward, throwing loopy punches, looking for good wrestling, like strong wrestling. They’re not very technical fighters but they’re very, very strong, so I think this fight is going to be very similar. I will have to cut the angles, slip, counter, use my timing, my length, my reach.”
Of course Zhang actually won the title by defeating Andrade via TKO in just 42 seconds, and Jedrzejczyk is well aware of her punching power, but feels she will have the advantage with her ability to fight at the highest level for five full rounds.
“She’s so big. She’s big. She’s huge and she throws very hard punches. But I’m more experienced. I’ve been through these championship bouts so many times, so I’m a real five-rounder.”
Jedrzejczyk will be looking to reclaim the 115lb title she lost back in 2017 after a TKO loss to Rose Namajunas.
She would go on to lose to Namajunas again in an immediate rematch, but then rebounded with a decision victory against Tecia Torres. A move up to flyweight to fight Valentina Shevchenko for the 125lb title also ended with a loss on the scorecards, but she recently got back on track with a decision victory against Michelle Waterson after dropping back down to strawweight.
As for Zhang, she’s won four fights in a row since joining the UFC in 2018, defeating the likes of danielle Taylor, Jessica Aguilar, Tecia Torres and the aforementioned Andrade along the way, extending her overall career record to 20-1.
