Recently, former UFC women's grassweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk said that she can't wait to make a comeback this year and hopes to fight a second match with the most memorable opponent of her career, Zhang Weili. Joanna has not returned to the octagon since losing to Zhang Weili in the UFC 248 match in March 2020 and has now been removed from the ranking by the UFC.
In the nearly two years since losing to Zhang Weili, Joanna has been talking about returning to the octagon, but she has never been able to keep her promise. In a recent interview with Polish broadcaster Kanal Sportowy, she revealed her plans to return to the field in 2022.
"Everybody thinks I'm out of the UFC anymore," Joanna said, "yeah, I just got out of the ranking because I haven't played in a dozen months." But I'm going to come back and continue to play against the number one person, and my opponent is probably Zhang Weili. ”
At present, Zhang Weili is no. 1 in the UFC women's grassweight (champion Rose does not count in the ranking), and Joanna certainly does not qualify for the championship, so she hopes to return to the challenger ranks through the second battle with Zhang Weili.
However, Joanna has lost four of her last six matches, and although the showdown with Zhang Weili is a classic, Zhang Weili also lost in the second battle with Rose by difference, so Zhang Weili's goal is also to defeat the player with the strongest momentum of grassweight, so as to fight with the champion again.
But according to Joanna, Carla Esparza will be Rose's next challenger, which is why she wants to play against Zhang Weili.
Joanna said: "I thought from the beginning that Carla Espaza was probably the next person to challenge the title, and it turned out that she was challenging Rose. In addition, Maria Rodriguez is going to play against Yan Xiaonan in March, and now only Zhang Weili is left, and Bai Dana wants me to attack the championship, but I have to wait until November, December, and I don't want to wait so long, I want to play. ”
Joanna didn't say when she might fight Zhang Weili, but she's confident it will happen in 2022. So what choice will Zhang Weili make next? It is reported that she will go to the United States to train in the next year, from the last performance we also see her growth, no matter who she fights next, we believe that Zhang Weili, who has been newly upgraded in both technology and heart, will be able to pick up the UFC gold belt again.