UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang shared details of an emotional moment she had with rival Joanna Jedrzejczyk at the hospital following UFC 248.
Zhang and Jedrzejczyk went toe-to-toe for 25 minutes in the co-main event of UFC 248, producing a banger of a title fight that pundits immediately called an instant classic. Both women landed hundreds of strikes on each other’s faces and bodies in a bloody battle that is already being labeled one of the greatest MMA fights of all time.
Both Zhang and Jedrzejczyk inflicted an obscene amount of damage on each other, which resulted in both women going to the hospital immediately after the bout.
Speaking on her YouTube channel, Zhang detailed an emotional conversation she had with her rival Jedrzejczyk while both women were lying in their hospital beds (via Bloody Elbow).
“After the match, Joanna and I, we both met at the hospital. We arrived at the hospital almost at the same time. There was just a curtain between us,” Zhang said.
“She kept crying for hours. I feel very sad. I especially wanted to comfort her. But the language barrier, I can only tell her, “Good job! You did very well. You are very good.” Then she kept crying, covering her head,” Zhang continued.
“And I feel very sad, to be honest. Although she was disrespectful to me before. But I saw her injury while crying. I felt bad for her. Then I talked to her. Then when she left — I am waiting for the examination — when she left, she told me this and I was particularly moved, she said: ‘Keep defending and I will watch you’ she said, ‘Keep defending and I will watch you. It will get harder and harder.’ I almost shed tears. At that time, I felt the warrior should be like this.”
Bitter rivals in the cage, both Zhang and Jedrzejczyk obviously developed an incredible respect for each other after sharing the Octagon and producing an incredible fight. The two women may eventually lock horns in a rematch one day, and if that happens you can be sure fans will be expecting another amazing fight between them.
Do you think we will see a rematch between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk?