UFC: ‘Nobody knew the name of Weili a few months ago’ – Valentina Shevchenko believes Zhang Weili has yet to prove herself
- Flyweight champion Shevchenko says strawweight champion Zhang became champion ‘because of lucky circumstances’
- Shevchenko says strawweight champion Zhang still needs to beat Namajunas and Suarez before they meet
UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili has yet to prove her worthiness of flyweight title bout, according to the division’s champion itself.
Valentina Shevchenko (professional MMA record 18-3) – who defends her flyweight belt for the third time against Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 247 on February 8 – won the 125 pound title against former 115 pound strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2018.
Meanwhile, China’s first UFC champion Zhang (20-1) faces Poland’s Jedrzejczyk at the promotion’s following pay-per-view at UFC 248 on March 7. This will be Zhang’s first title defence since beating then-champion Jessica Andrade in 2019.
“A few months ago nobody knew the name of the Chinese girl Weili,” the 31-year-old Shevchenko told MMA Fighting. “I don’t know what [ranking] number she was but because of lucky circumstances she became champion. But she still has to prove that she is in the right place and she’s there because no-one is better than her.
