UFC president Dana White believes Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are taking two different approaches leading to UFC 248.
This Saturday night (March 7), Zhang will put her UFC strawweight championship on the line against Jedrzejczyk. The title bout will serve as the co-main event of UFC 248. It’ll be the first time Zhang puts her 115-pound gold on the line.
White Says Zhang Training Hard, Jedrzejczyk Living It Up
White spoke to reporters in Las Vegas ahead of this weekend’s card. The UFC boss said that Zhang looks well prepared for her title defense, while Jedrzejczyk appears to be relaxing at the beach (h/t BJPenn.com).
“These two, right now, if you look at Joanna, she’s out at the beach and living the lifestyle. Then you watch Weili Zhang’s posts on Instagram — hardcore training, non-stop training, all she thinks about is fighting — it’s fascinating. I love this fight,” White said.
As White expressed at the end of the quote, he’s still excited for Zhang vs. Jedrzejczyk. Despite being “out at the beach,” Jedrzejczyk has never been known to be lax ahead of her bouts. She once ruled the strawweight roost and is still viewed as a credible threat at the top of the division.
Zhang captured the strawweight gold back in Aug. 2019. She ran through Jessica Andrade in under a minute to close out UFC Shenzhen. She has only been defeated once in her pro MMA career.
As for Jedrzejczyk, she earned her title opportunity after a one-sided unanimous decision win over Michelle Waterson. Jedrzejczyk dropped two bouts to Rose Namajunas and a fight against Valentina Shevchenko at flyweight but she’s still a cut above many 115-pounders.
The main event of UFC 248 will feature a middleweight title bout between champion Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero. Join us for live results, highlights, and post-fight tidbits this weekend.
