UFC Strawweight Champion Weili Zhang is confident that she’ll be able to get Joanna Jedrzejczyk out of there early if they wind up fighting for the title in 2020.
Zhang is still riding a strong wave of momentum after capturing the title by defeating Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen. It took her to 4-0 in the UFC and 20-1 overall, confirming her status as the first ever UFC champion to come from China.
Jedrzejczyk, on the other hand, finally seems to be coming out of the other side of a rather unpleasant period in which she lost three fights in four. She was able to defeat Michelle Waterson at UFC Tampa last month to get her title campaign back on track, which actually extended her win streak in the division to two when you count out her flyweight defeat to Valentina Shevchenko.
During a recent exchange with MMA Junkie, Zhang made it clear that she isn’t all too concerned about the prospect of taking on “Joanna Champion”.
“I think she sounds very angry all the time, and her emotions will get her in trouble,” Zhang said. “She is willing to fight me now, but there was a time she didn’t want to fight me, as well. I am ready anytime for battle. Just call my manager Mr. Brian (Butler) and the boss Dana, and we can fight next week.”
“I am always looking to finish a fight as soon as I can so my opponent doesn’t have to endure long periods of damage,” Weili added. “I see the fight ending in one or two rounds. I think Joanna possesses great skill with her striking, along with good power, but I believe in my training and team to have me ready to beat her anywhere.”
It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how the fight unfolds as two of the best strawweights ever prepare to square off.
Do you think Weili Zhang can stop Joanna Jedrzejczyk?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/22/2019.