Featherweight Valentina Shevchenko believes strawweight
queen Weili Zhang will lose in her next fight.
The history making Chinese UFC champion made a successful first defence of her 115lb title against Joanna J?drzejczyk at UFC 248 on Saturday night. In the co-main event slot, the two women went to war over five hard rounds in a fight which will be remembered as an all-time great fight.
Zhang emerged victorious via split decision on the judge’s cards, however the fight was extremely close, and many believed J?drzejczyk should have regained the 115lb title, Shevchenko being one of them.
Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, she said. “She did good. She’s strong. But you could see, once she starts [to] get the real competition, the real level of martial artist, the top level of fighters, the top level of opponent, now she has a struggle. You could see how difficult was this fight with Joanna, her fight, how difficult it was. And I really don’t see Weili defending her belt in the next title fight.”
Not only does the 125lb champion believes
Zhang loses her next fight, she also believes the Chinese champion should have
lost at UFC 248.
“In my opinion, Joanna won this fight
because her accuracy was more on point,” Valentina Shevchenko explained. “And
yes, she gets this inflammation on her head, but it was just one punch.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)
Right now, it is unclear who Zhang will be fighting next. After such an enthralling war with Polish fighter J?drzejczyk the UFC many be keen to order an immediate rematch – no-one would complain about that.
Alternatively, former champion Rose Namajunas was believed to be the first choice to face Zhang at UFC 248, so she may well be the next choice if she is able to emerge victorious from her rematch with Jessica Andrade.
Do you believe Weili Zhang will retain her 115lb UFC title?