When Joanna Jedrzejczyk met Zhang Weili at UFC 248, they engaged in one of the most memorable fights ever seen in MMA.
Over five rounds, the strawweights battled back-and-forth with more than 700 strikes thrown and nearly 400 landed. The epic encounter was universally recognized as the Fight of the Year but that didn’t take away the damage that Jedrzejczyk absorbed over 25 minutes much less soothe the sting she felt after coming up short in a razor-close split decision loss.
Just over two years later, Jedrjzeczyk is preparing to run it back with Zhang, this time with three rounds to work instead of five. Still, the expectations are still high for their rematch at UFC 275. Jedrzejczyk knows she can do better than the last time out, especially as she seeks to cut down on the sheer volume of damage she sustained.
“I feel like a true warrior every time I enter the octagon,” Jedrzejczyk told MMA Fighting. “I take this fight, but I know that I have more tools, and I can be better and more smarter fighter in the octagon during the fight, so I don’t need to exchange only and get this damage. I just need to be more smarter with using my tools, and I will do that this time.
“This fight I feel is going to be different. Sometimes I just took the fight and I should be smarter and I took a big lesson and I will change this.”
Perhaps Jedrzejczyk’s biggest lesson after five rounds in the cage with Zhang is the former 115-pound champion’s best offense came in reaction to whatever she was doing.
Well-known for her aggressive nature, Jedrzejczyk immediately recognizes the areas where Zhang scored her most strikes. She looks back on the fight’s biggest moments and instantly recognizes the places she was fighting.
“Weili Zhang scored most of her punches when she was countering with her cross, with her right hand,” Jedrzejczyk said. “We have to make some adjustments and we’re going to be fine.
” I was too close to her. Although I had been working to move more, before the fight I stood too much in front of her. I took the fight [to her], I went into the battle, into the war and we are going back and forth.”
While Jedrzejczyk says that there will be adjustments going into the rematch she can’t help but to praise Zhang for her fight that brought out the best in them both.
“She’s very tough,” Jedrzejczyk said. “She has an amazing gas tank. She’s shorter. She’s muscular, she’s very strong. She’s similar to Jessica Andrade. You might think that girls such as Weili and Andrade are strong. But they’re not.
“I was surprised how good I was in the clinch. Although I am thinner and taller than other women, I managed to do well in the clinch. She is a great warrior and I was impressed by her mental strength. Fantastic character, great warrior .”
For all the respect for Zhang heading into UFC 275, Jedrzejczyk believes she’s still the better overall fighter because she’s willing to recognize what went wrong and then correct those errors. She’s spent the past few months with her coaches and training partners at American Top Team fine-tuning her game plan, and she promises a more dominant showcase when she faces Zhang again.
“I know what I did so many mistakes and what mistakes I made in this fight,” Jedrzejczyk said. I’m looking ahead. I’m just proud of myself. I want to keep on winning. I would like to win my next fight. I also want to fight for UFC’s strawweight title .”
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With Carla Esparza, who has won her second victory over Rose Namajunas in UFC 274, Jedrzejczyk’s divisional finals, sitting at the top of the section. She believes that Zhang will be her next chance at the gold medal.
Considering Jedrzejczyk already has a dominant win over Esparza in their previous encounter back in 2015, she expects her next fight will be with the title on the line. But none of that happens if she doesn’t get through Zhang in Singapore.
“She’s maybe not the gatekeeper, but I know if I beat Weili Zhang I will get the title shot,” Jedrzejczyk said. Rose Namajunas was the next opponent, so I didn’t push for it. I also knew Carla Esparza would be next. I had to wait long enough. I just want to fight.
“I just want to fight, as I stated so many months back. It’s becoming possible for me to fight the best, and that is what I am doing. Weili Zhang has it right .”
