In 2021, Zhang Weili's UFC road can be described as ups and downs, and in April, she was unfortunately defeated by Rose and lost the grassweight (52 kg) championship belt. After that, Zhang Weili regrouped and went to the United States for a long period of war preparation training. In November, she and Rose launched a second battle, although it lost again, but Zhang Weili's progress we can see, many martial arts fans are convinced that she still has great hopes to regain the championship title.
Recently, Zhang Weili also won the "Golden Fist Award" most influential female boxer award. According to reports, the "Golden Fist Award" is a professional martial arts award launched by Henan Satellite TV's "Wulin Feng" in order to promote the development of Chinese martial arts and commend and pay tribute to Chinese and foreign warriors who have contributed to the fighting competition. Zhang Weili's acceptance of this award is also a recognition of her influence in Chinese martial arts.
At present, Zhang Weili ranks first in the grassweight of the UFC rankings. Next, if there is no accident, Ross and Zhang Weili will engage in a transitional war, if both sides win, the three battles between them will not be too far away. Zhang Weili also said in a previous interview that she will go to the United States for training after the Spring Festival and hopes to challenge the champion again at the end of this year.
Regarding Zhang Weili's opponent in the next battle, martial arts fans are also very concerned. After the second battle with Ross, Zhang Weili said that she might fight second-place Espaza, but recently UFC president Dana Bai said that Espaza would be the next boxer to challenge Rose. In addition, third-placed Rodriguez will face fourth-place Chinese boxer Yan Xiaonan in March this year.
With the latest competition of Several potential opponents of Zhang Weili being finalized, who she will fight next has once again become the focus of the topic of martial arts fans, among which the voice of Joanna, the former grassweight queen, is also not small. Recently, Joanna also re-emerged from the jianghu and called Zhang Weili in an interview with foreign media.
Joanna
Joanna won the grassweight championship belt as early as 2015, and has since successfully defended the title five times, and her dominance is very strong. In 2017, Joanna was defeated by Rose and lost the championship, after which her form fluctuated and she failed to regain her peak feelings.
In March 2020, Joanna once again won the opportunity to impact the gold belt, and the champion at that time was Zhang Weili. The two experienced a fierce competition, and the scene made people's blood boil. After the five-round battle, Zhang Weili successfully defended the title.
Joanna (left) Zhang Weili (right)
After the war, Joanna never appeared on stage again. Due to the long period of no competition, Joanna was also removed from the UFC rankings, and many fans speculated whether Joanna was expelled from the UFC. But later, Joanna said she would return to the field and return to the rankings.
In a recent interview, Joanna said: "Everyone thinks I'm no longer in the UFC, I fell out of the ranking because I haven't played in a dozen months, but I'm coming back now, and the opponent may be Zhang Weili. ”
In addition, Joanna also revealed that Bai Dana wants her to wait until around November and December to compete in the championship. But Joanna wants to return to the tournament as soon as possible, and her target opponent, only Zhang Weili has not yet determined the opponent, so this is why she wants to fight with Zhang Weili. At that time, zhang Weili's battle with Joanna was a battle that could be recorded in the annals of UFC history, and it also caused a great response in the world of martial arts. This time, Joanna took the initiative to call Zhang Weili, and the second battle will surely attract the attention of the world's martial arts again. In addition, this battle, if officially finalized, will be particularly important for both sides, and the winner will most likely be awarded the title challenge again.
At the same time, this is also the most critical battle for Joanna. Since 2017, Joanna has won only three of her last seven games, and if she loses again, Joanna's UFC career may also come to an end...