UFC 275: Zhang Weili calls for October title fight with Carla Esparza following dazzling KO of Joanna Jedrzejczyk
- Zhang earned strawweight title shot with highlight-reel KO of Jedrzejczyk on UFC 275 main card on Sunday morning in Singapore
- Chinese star suggests Abu Dhabi as the setting for her planned showdown with the American champion, forecasting ‘a really good fight’
Chinese MMA superstar Zhang Weili is hoping to challenge Carla Esparza for the UFC strawweight title this autumn.
Zhang, the division’s former champion, returned to the Octagon on the main card of the action-packed UFC 275 card on Sunday morning in Singapore, taking on Poland’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk. She won the fight with a highlight-reel knockout in the second round, cementing herself as the next woman in line for a crack at Esparza in the process.
The Chinese fighter is hoping to challenge the American in October, when the UFC plans to return to Abu Dhabi, noting that the city would be neutral territory.
“I want fight with Carla in Abu Dhabi,” she said at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference. “I think there’s a fight around October 20. I think Carla is a special fighter too, so I think that would be a really good fight.”
Esparza, the UFC strawweight division’s inaugural champion, reclaimed the belt with a split decision win over Rose Namajunas last month. The American is considered one of the best grapplers in the division, but Zhang believes she will need to sharpen all of her weapons to beat her.
UFC 275: Zhang seals stunning KO of Joanna, who retires in Singapore
“I think there’s no weak fighters in the top ranking,” she said. “For a fight with Carla, I need to improve my grappling, my BJJ, my wrestling. There’s nothing I need to specifically prepare for, I just need to improve myself.”
Zhang stopped Jedrzejczyk with a beautifully time spinning back fist, catching the Polish star with a forearm to the side of the head in the second round.
She claims its an attack she drilled extensively during her training camp in Thailand.
“I did a lot of spinning technique practice in training, so that spinning back fist was just a natural reaction,” Zhang said.
“I did a lot of hard work in training,” she added. “Everything was well prepared.”
Zhang captured the title with a first-round knockout of Jessica Andrade in 2019. After defending it with a unanimous decision win over Jedrzejczyk in 2020, she surrendered it to Namajunas, succumbing to a first-round head kick. She then failed to reclaim the title in an immediate rematch with Namajunas, losing a split decision.
