When Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk last faced each other in the Octagon, the 25-minute clash proved to be one of the greatest fights in the history of UFC. Two years later, the two will run it back at Saturday's UFC 275 event in Singapore, and Zhang—who earned a narrow split-decision result in the first encounter—is hoping to give another memorable performance, even if the action plays out with a slightly different tone.
“I want to fight more strategically this time, but I also want it to be very exciting and maybe another Fight of the Year," Zhang tells MMA Underground through an interpreter.
In March 2020, China’s Zhang was still the UFC's reigning strawweight champion, while Poland's Jedrzejczyk was a former titleholder looking to regain her belt. “Joanna Champion” had a reputation as one of the sport's most technically proficient and downright vicious strikers during her title reign, and Zhang admits she wanted to send a message through her own performance that night at UFC 248.
”For the first fight, I was a very stubborn fighter,” Zhang says. “I know she’s a very good striker, so for the first match, I just wanted to show that I'm better than her on the striking side. I could have taken her down, but I didn't use that technique.”
Courtesy of UFC
This time, Zhang said she's looking to utilize a more well-rounded approach rather than simply standing in the pocket and trying to outslug her opponent. Because it’s a non-title fight, with Zhang ceding her title to Rose Namajunas following the first Jedrzejczyk bout, “Magnum” will only need to pace herself for three rounds rather than five, which she believes will allow for more early pressure.
“Three rounds and five rounds are definitely very different,” Zhang says. ”For three rounds, I definitely will pick up the pace, and I will speed up and not use as much time to settle in. I will get into the rhythm directly from the start.”
Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports
While the Zhang (21–3 MMA, 5–2 UFC) vs. Jedrzejczyk (16–4 MMA, 10–4 UFC) rematch is placed on Saturday's ESPN+ pay-per-view card (10 p.m. ET) behind two championship contests, fan interest remains extremely high due to the quality of the first meeting. Ahead of the clash at Singapore Indoor Stadium, UFC president Dana White raised the stakes of the matchup after telling MMA Underground the winner of the contest would “definitely” fight current champ Carla Esparza later this year.
“This is definitely exciting news,” Zhang says. “I’ll be one step closer after I win this fight, and I'll have another chance to regain my belt.”
Despite that development, Zhang said she’s not letting herself think about that potential just yet and is instead giving Jedrzejczyk her full attention. After all, while she was victorious in their first meeting, the margin of victory was incredibly narrow, leaving no room for error should she hope to repeat the accomplishment.
Zhang knows exactly what she’s facing but believes she’s a better fighter than she was in their first meeting and plans to prove that on Saturday night en route to booking herself a future title shot.
“Every fight, when I get into the octagon, I’m very excited,” Zhang says. “I'm not looking back at the bruises and the pain of that first fight. I’m just thinking about how to beat my opponent rather than how she could beat me, and I'm excited.”
