Daniel Cormier believes Zhang Weili is quite possibly the greatest athlete he’s ever seen.
Cormier was recently interviewed by MMA Fighting’s Jose Youngs ahead of UFC 275 this weekend to get his take on the strawweight bout between Joanna J?drzejczyk and Zhang Weili.
During his analysis of the contest, Cormier praised the athleticism of Weili, suggesting she might be the best athlete he’s ever seen.
“For Joanna to win she’s got to be smarter,” Cormier said. “I think in the time away she has recognized that and she understands that – even though ‘The Boogeywoman’ is a fun character, at times you can’t fight like ‘The Boogeywoman.’
“You got to be a little bit more sharp in you approach. Especially when you’re fighting – honestly, Zhang Weili is legit the greatest athlete I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
“She’s so fast, she’s like a ball of muscle, she’s just tremendous. I mean we’ve seen her do things that – If you put a basketball in Zhang Weili’s hands, I would imagine she could shoot it.
“Baseball, she’s probably pretty damn good. You put her on the track and field team, she’s probably pretty damn good. So, she’s about as athletic as anyone we’ve ever seen.
“And to beat someone like that you’ve got to be smart, and I think Joanna’s going to do that. So the fight may be a little bit slower.”
.@dc_mma tells @JoseYoungs that Zhang Weili is "legit the greatest athlete" he's ever seen
#UFC275
"If you put a basketball in Zhang Weili’s hands, I would imagine she can shoot it. Baseball, she’s probably pretty damn good."
Full interview
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) June 9, 2022
J?drzejczyk and Weili put on an absolute classic — quite possibly the greatest female MMA fight of all time — back in March of 2020. After five rounds of fighting, Weili was declared the winner via split decision.
It was a successful title defense for the then-Chinese champion. J?drzejczyk hasn’t fought since due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Weili went on to drop her title to Rose Namajunas.
She also lost the rematch for the title, marking the first and only back-to-back losses of her MMA career. Now, both women are in desperate need of a win to get back into the 115-pound title picture.
Pair that with what happened in their last contest, and fight fans could be in for another barn burner this weekend in Singapore.
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