Joanna Jedrzejczyk walked in to UFC 248 as the greatest strawweight in UFC history, but Weili Zhang walked in as champion Saturday night.
Stiff shot lands after the bell #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/HJTXu40LpR
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 8, 2020
Jedrzejczyk showed early why she held the distinction of "champion" for so long, but Zhang wasn't out of her depth. The two traded strikes fast and furious, with everything from punches, kicks, knees, elbows and even a nasty accidental headbutt landing through the first two rounds. The end of the first also saw Joanna score a punch after the bell, which she apologized for.
Zhang Weili is starting to unload on Joanna #UFC248
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 8, 2020
Stream #UFC248 on ESPN+ https://t.co/bgI1Songf8 pic.twitter.com/wvijt31fug
If you read the recap of the first two rounds, that;s how the last three followed. An instant classic, all-time great battle unfolded. Back-and-forth action over five rounds with no clear cut advantage. Heralded as "the greatest fight in women's MMA history," Joanna had an absurdly huge hematoma from about halfway through the bout.
THIS KICK! ----
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 8, 2020
Stream #UFC248 on ESPN+ https://t.co/WPvP7mFN8C pic.twitter.com/U0Umlh1Pdf
The fight ended, with no clear winner until the scorecards were read. Weili Zhang emerged victorious via a narrow split decision. Afterwards, Zhang called upon the crowd to help fight Coronavirus.
"This is insane!" --@dc_mma nails it when describing the battle between Zhang Weili and @joannamma at #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/kBYYFsmDNT
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 8, 2020
You can see our full coverage of UFC 248 at this link, and check out our main event watch along at this link.
