UFC 248: Joanna Jedrzejczyk left ‘looking like an alien’ after losing to Weili Zhang in ‘greatest women’s MMA bout of all time’
Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang put on a battle for the ages in the UFC 248 co-main event.
The fight went the distance but was a super, super tight affair. Two judges scored the bout 48-47 in favour of Zhang, while the third saw it 48-47 Jedrzejczyk.
Both women really slugged it out and gave everything they had, but generally, most fans seem to believe that Zhang deserved the win.
In the second round, she landed a huge right hand that seemed to visibly rock the former champion, but the Pole switched to southpaw in the third round and briefly gave Zhang some problems.
"I was pretty sure I got it," Zhang said through a translator. "It was a great performance. We are all martial artists here. We don't want trash-talking. We want mutual respect."
Jedrzejczyk, who is now 0-4 in her past four title fights, including two losses to Rose Namajunas and one to current flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, kept up Zhang's theme of respect.
"She did a great job. I felt her punches," Jedrzejczyk said. "The swelling was bothering me. I felt it more and more, but we're good. Congrats champ. I'm very happy we gave a good fight."
As you can see below, the fight world hailed this bout as one of the all-time greats:
It is a fantastic win for Zhang, especially given the conditions it came in. She initially relocated to Thailand in early February because of the coronavirus before moving on to Abu Dhabi and, finally, the U.S.
"It was hard with the coronavirus in my country, everybody knows that," Zhang said. "The coronavirus is getting much better, and I hope everybody stays together and fights together. We can win this. Our country is suffering from the tragedy right now, but we're fighting together and winning it."
Zhang, 30, moves to 21-1 and is emerging as a bona fide star for the UFC. She is also the only Chinese champion in the company's history.