“It’s fair for both of us”- Zhang Weili names her condition for fighting Carla Esparza for the strawweight title
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Zhang Weili on Carla Esparza
The strawweight rematch between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk took place on the main card of UFC 275. The first fight took place back in UFC 248 when Weili won via unanimous decision and defended her strawweight title then during her championship tenure.
Both these athletes worked on a game plan to get their opponent out of the action as soon as possible, and they started the fight in a similar fashion. Zhang and Joanna looked a little hesitant to engage, but as soon as the first punch landed, they threw their gameplan out of the window and started exchanging heavy blows.
Weili came to her sense and recollected herself to land a big takedown, blasting Joanna with ground and pound strikes. She maintained the top position for much of Round 1, and Joanna was visibly tired when she got up to her feet. Joanna started the second round with some pressure, but after some initial exchanges, Zhang landed a perfect spinning backfist to knock Joanna out cold.
Related – “Congratulations”- Jiri Prochazka greets Zhang Weili after her victory at UFC 275
“There’s nothing I need to specially care for”- Zhang Weili believes she is ready for Carla Esparza
Weili is not next in line for the title shot against Carla Esparza, and she believes she can dominate her in a five-rounded contest, and retain her strawweight title to create history. Talking about it during the UFC 275 post-conference, she said, “I want to fight with Carla in Abu Dhabi because I know there’s a fight there in October. I think Carla is a special fighter and I know that can be a really good fight. Also, for me and for her, not China or the U.S., so we can fight in another country. It’s fair for both of us.”
Weili added, “I think there’s no weak fighter in the top rankings. So if I’m fighting Carla, I need to improve my grappling, my BJJ, my wrestling. There’s nothing I need to specially care for. I just need to improve myself. MMA is over all sports, so I don’t think we can have any disadvantage, so I want to be a well-rounded fighter.”
Weili showed incredible improvements in her fight against Joanna, but Carla is as tough as anyone on the roster, a title fight between these two would be incredible and fans cant wait to see those two get back in the octagon.
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Suryansh Thakur
(1600 Articles Published)