The next big fight in women’s MMA for 2020 – A rematch between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Without a doubt the best fight that can take place in women’s MMA is a third fight with Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko. There are currently two problems with that matchup though.
The first being that Nunes is up 2-0 over Shevchenko, and it’s rare to see a trilogy fight when someone has already won/loss to that opponent twice. The other problem is, Nunes announced after her win over Felicia Spencer last weekend that she will most likely be sitting out the rest of 2020.
With that being said, there is one clear draw that can be made as the next big fight in women’s MMA that can be made this year.
A rematch between Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
This fight has a few pieces that would sell in the second half of 2020. Some of those include their epic first fight, the drama in the build up to their fight and everyone else seems to be tied up.
Their epic first fight.
I don’t think we really need a breakdown here. Their fight in March maybe the best women’s fight of all time, it is definitely in the running for fight of the year and it will with out a doubt be in the UFC hall-of-fame. It was back-and-forth fight, which ended in a split decision in favor of Zhang. There was so much action in the fight, with both women showcasing their striking abilities.
Following the fight both Zhang and Jedrzejczyk needed to be transported to the hospital. Jedrzejczyk’s face became an internet sensation as it resembled an alien and Zhang didn’t look much better as it looked like she had a horrible reaction to a bee sting.
The drama in the build up to their fight.
We all love good fights and we also love some drama. While their fight was filled with drama, the build up to it also had plenty of dramatic events.
There was the internet meme of Jedrzejczyk wearing a gas mask, which was poking fun at Zhang being in China during the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Jedrzejczyk shared the meme on her Instagram story and Zhang didn’t find it funny at all, calling Jedrzejczyk out for not having symphony for the Chinese people that were dying from the disease. Jedrzejczyk would apologize for sharing the meme saying she had no ill intentions behind it.
Also during fight week, Weili Zhang gave some Polish fans a hard time at her open workout, which didn’t sit well with Jedrzejczyk. At media day, Jedrzejczyk, showed up in a beautiful red dress, but her message to Zhang was not as pretty as the dress she was wearing. Jedrzejczyk told Zhang not to f*** with Polish nation and Zhang simply replied with “shut up.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9XhsvNAjXz/
Everyone else seems to be tied up.
There are some other possible fights to make, but there’s some question marks surrounding them.
One fight people would like to see is Zhang challenge Shevchenko for the flyweight belt. One problem there is Shevchenko has previously said she doesn’t feel Zhang is worthy and she thinks that Zhang shouldn’t even be the strawweight champ as she scored the fight in favor of Jedrzejczyk. Also Shevchenko was scheduled to fight Joanne Calderwood, but an injury forced the champ out of the fight and there is no word as to whether or not that fight will be rescheduled.
Another option is for Zhang to fight Rose Namajunas, which Zhang has called for. Problem with that is Namajunas is scheduled to rematch Jessica Andrade on July 11 at UFC 251. First off, Namajunas would have to avenge her loss to Andrade. Then, based off of Namajunas’ track record, win lose or draw, she maybe out sometime after the fight as she is not an active fighter.
Finally, you can throw Tatiana Suarez into the mix and nobody would complain. But is there a timeframe for her return? She has been sidelined with a neck injury and there hasn’t been any rumblings on her returning. Hopefully she does come back soon, but until then we’ll have to rule her out.
In conclusion.
There you have it. The Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk rematch is the safest bet as the next big fight in women’s MMA. The world is slowly coming back to normal and hopefully the UFC will be able to book the two in the second half of the year.
