The UFC women’s strawweight title will be on the line when champion Weili Zhang takes on challenger Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248.
The card is set to take place on March 7, 2020, though no location or venue has officially been decided on yet. There have been rumors that this event may take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a main event of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya taking on rival Yoel Romero.
MMAFighting.com’s Damon Martin was the first to report the news of Zhang vs. Jedrzejczyk for UFC 248.
The fight pitting arguably the two best women’s strawweights in the sport has been rumored for months ever since Zhang knocked out Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen to take the title in August and Jedrzejczyk defeated Michelle Waterson in the main event at UFC Tampa in October.
With former champ Rose Namajunas on the sidelines still and another top contender in Tatiana Suarez injured and not available to fight, Jedrzejczyk almost automatically assumed the role of No. 1 contender at women’s 115lbs to Zhang’s title.
Zhang and Jedrzejczyk have been going back-and-forth in interviews and on social media in the last few months and UFC president Dana White recently admitted he’s extremely excited for this matchup. When it does go down, it will pit arguably the two top strikers in the division against one another in what should be an amazing fight.
Zhang (20-1) is currently riding a 19-fight win streak, having not lost since her MMA debut back in 2013. She is a perfect 4-0 in the UFC with wins over Andrade, Tecia Torres, Jessica Aguilar, and Danielle Taylor. This fight against Jedrzejczyk will be her first title defense.
Jedrzejczyk (16-3) is the former long-time UFC women’s strawweight champion. She won the belt back in 2015 against Carla Esparza and went on to defend her belt five times. Since losing it to the aforementioned Namajunas back in 2017, Jedrzejczyk is just 2-3 over her last five fights. But her good standing with the UFC and with the fans allowed her to get this title shot as many believe that stylistically she possesses a great threat to Zhang.
Who do you think wins at UFC 248, Weili Zhang or Joanna Jedrzejczyk?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/2/2019.