This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 322, the women’s flyweight title was on the line. Valentina Shevchenko (26-4-1) was defending her title against former strawweight champion Zhang Weili (26-4) in a true super fight.
While the betting odds were really close, I liked Zhang Weili in this spot on Saturday. Shevchenko had been seemingly slowing down over the past couple of years while Zhang Weili had looked better than ever. Weili was coming off a dominant win over a very big and strong Tatiana Suarez earlier this year.
I felt like she could match the strength of Shevchenko while utilizing her speed to win a close fight. Well, she was at a disadvantage wherever the fight went on Saturday night. She seemed slower on the feet as Shevchenko looked faster than ever and in the grappling, there was a massive strength difference.
Shevchenko bullied the former strawweight champion and controlled her for most of the fight. When the scorecards were read at UFC 322, Zhang Weili didn’t win a single round in a stunningly dominant win for the flyweight champion.
What’s next after UFC 322?
Dana White said it best after the fight when he said that this fight showed why there are weight classes. Weili was just overmatched on Saturday and it was clear that she’s a strawweight fighter when watching her try to compete with Valentina Shevchenko.
Inside the octagon, Weili said that she wanted to take some time before deciding what’s next for her. She didn’t make any commitments about returning to strawweight, but the UFC needs to push that if there’s any hesitancy.
The next fight with Weili needs to be a fight with Mackenzie Dern for the strawweight title. I expect that Weili would be a massive favorite in that fight and it’s the most compelling fight in the division. Weili would become the first female fighter in UFC history to win a division’s title on three separate occasions should she move down and win.
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