Tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC 322, the women’s flyweight title is on the line in a matchup between the two best female fighters on the planet. Flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1) is defending her title against the former strawweight champ Zhang Weili (26-3) who vacated her title to get this shot.
Starting with the challenger, Weili finished her business at 115 pounds earlier this year. Weili was the betting underdog against sensational wrestler Tatiana Suarez and Weili dominated the fight. That win moved her to 6-2 in strawweight title fights with her only losses coming against Rose Namajunas. Since her second loss to Namajunas, Weili is a perfect 5-0.
Now, she’ll take on a fellow goat in Valentina Shevchenko. The flyweight division was made for Shevchenko and after it’s inception, Shevchenko moved down from 135 and became the champ in 2018. She had seven successful title defenses and was on her way to an eighth against Alexa Grasso. However, Grasso capitalized on a Shevchenko mistake and submitted her.
Those two ended up having a trilogy that went 1-1-1, but it was clear after the final fight that Shevchenko was the better fighter. After dominating Grasso last September, Shevchenko returned at UFC 315 where she defeated a very game Manon Fiorot to defend her title moving her to 10-1-1 in title fights.
UFC 322 Prediction
Had this fight been a couple of years ago, I really wouldn’t have hesitation in my pick. I would be picking Valentina Shevchenko to win this fight. When you analyze these two, you see that there are so many similarities between the two.
Both are incredibly strong and while they come from striking backgrounds, they’ve developed into incredible grapplers and both have used their grappling to win fights. I think a couple of years ago, the speed would be a wash, but I would give the physical strength advantage to Shevchenko at I’d lean towards that being the difference.
However, it’s 2025 and this is UFC 322. While I expect this to be a razor close fight, I think you’ll see that Weili is going to be the faster fighter. I think you’ll see her timing, especially on takedowns, is going to be better and I don’t think Shevchenko’s strength advantage is going to be massive.
Both women are going to have success, but I think this will be a legacy cementing fight for the great Zhang Weili who will win her second UFC world title tomorrow night in a close fight.
Prediction: Zhang Weili by Decision
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