UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero - Predictions and Picks

#2 Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Weili Zhang became the UFC's first Chinese champion in 2019

This UFC Strawweight title clash is fascinating because it could represent either the beginning of a new era in the division – or it could be a ‘back to the future’ moment with a former dominant champion regaining her spot at the top of the mountain.

Zhang became the UFC’s first-ever Chinese champion back in August with her first-round TKO of Jessica Andrade; few observers gave her a chance against the brute power of the Brazilian, and yet ‘Magnum’ turned the tide completely, catching her with a right hand before destroying her with elbows and punches from the clinch.

Jedrzejczyk meanwhile returned to 115lbs in October and outpointed Michelle Waterson in a pretty clear-cut decision. She doesn’t feel as dominant as she once did during her title reign – two losses to Rose Namajunas will do that – but those losses remain her only ones at Strawweight, and it’s impossible to hold her ill-advised move to 125lbs to fight Valentina Shevchenko against her.

For me, this fight will come down to whether Jedrzejczyk can pick Zhang apart as she’s done to so many other fighters without taking too many big shots from her Chinese foe. The issue with that is that prior to her win over Andrade, in the UFC at least ‘Magnum’ was actually known more as a volume striker, and that’s how she defeated Tecia Torres to earn her title shot.

That means that Jedrzejczyk won’t simply be able to dance around and simply play the matador, as she did in her own win over Andrade; this fight will more likely look like a battle of two matadors, except one clearly has exceptional power in her strikes while the other – Joanna – just doesn’t have that many knockouts to her name.

I’d say Joanna is probably still the more technical striker, as Zhang’s defensive work in the Torres fight didn’t look all too great, but then we have seen her out-boxed before by Namajunas, so it’s certainly not impossible to beat her on the feet. What’s really intriguing here is what could happen if the two fighters clinch; Jedrzejczyk has always been excellent in close quarters, but she definitely isn’t as dangerous as ‘Magnum’ if that fight with Andrade is anything to go by.

Overall I think this will be a close fight, but despite all of Joanna’s accomplishments, I’m leaning towards Zhang. I can’t see her getting completely picked apart and beaten on volume and if the two women do exchange, she’s clearly got more knockout power, is better in the clinch, and if the fight hits the ground – which is doubtful – she’s far superior too. I’m going to take Zhang by decision.

The Pick: Zhang via unanimous decision