Zhang Weili successfully navigated her first strawweight title defence in a brutal war for the ages on Saturday. But Valentina Shevchenko wasn’t very impressed.
The judges awarded Zhang a split decision at UFC 248 in Las Vegas. The razor close fight could’ve gone either way – and the UFC’s women’s flyweight champ thinks it should’ve been Joanna Jedrzejczyk whose arm was raised.
“I don’t believe [Zhang won],” Shevchenko told TMZ Sports. “I think Joanna was more – her accuracy was more on point, and she had more clear strikes.
“The one thing was [the hematoma on] her head, right? But it was not kind of the result of many punches. It was just one punch in the third round when you can see her head blow up and start to swell. It’s obvious it went this way. It was not [from] getting that kind of pressure, getting that kind of power. It was just one hit.”
“Weili, she’s a good fighter,” Shevchenko said. “I see now, competing in the top level competition, you can tell what she is in reality. She is good. Good fighter, but it’s not enough for the high, elite competition. Definitely, I wish her good luck at first, of course, but I cannot see her defending her title in the next fight.”
Zhang’s next title defence could see her pitted against former champion Rose “Thug” Namajunas, while a super fight with Shevchenko has also been mooted.
“I don’t have any problem to fight no one,” Shevchenko added. “To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s going to be Chinese girl, Amanda Nunes – doesn’t matter who. I’m here to fight anyone.
“But as I said, I don’t see Weili passing the next title defence, and seeing the fight with Joanna, you see how difficult it was to fight with this kind of opponent with Joanna.
“How [much she] struggled, how troubled she [was] in this game. And you definitely see her fighting against me? I don’t think so.”
