Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Perhaps if things had gone differently ahead of the UFC Fight Night 157 mixed martial arts (MMA) event last August in Shenzhen, China, then Joanna Jedrzejczyk would be rematching Jessica Andrade for the strawweight strap this weekend in “Sin City.”
Instead, the former 115-pound champion will be taking on newly-crowned titleholder, Weili Zhang, in the upcoming UFC 248 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, taking place this Sat. night (March 7, 2020) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I think that Jessica Andrade was not in her best shape when she faced Weili Zhang,” Jedrzejczyk told MMA Fighting. “What I heard from her camp, they had so many problems in China with the weight cut. She couldn’t be focused on the proper weight cut and rehydration and then fight. It was a totally different Jessica Andrade in the fight with Weili Zhang. Like I said, she’s the champ. She’s training really, really hard. But she hasn’t faced someone like me yet.”
Zhang (20-1) was hastily slotted into the overseas title shot and was only ranked No. 7 at the time of her previous booking, but “Magnum” rose to the occasion and smashed “Bate Estaca” within one round of championship action.
Both fighters may have something to prove at this weekend’s event, as Jedrzejczyk (16-3) is 0-3 in her last three title fights, having dropped a pair of strawweight fights to Rose Namajunas before getting stymied by Valentina Shevchenko in a trip up to flyweight.