Zhang Weili's first title defense couldn't have come against a more dangerous opponent in Joanna Jedrzejczyk. And by the end of the fight, it was unclear who would be the one to walk away with the belt.
For five rounds, the two strawweights traded blow after blow. In the end, both fighters were bloodied, bruised, and swollen; but, only one exited as strawweight champion. Zhang Weili successfully defended her title against the challenger, but the former champion gave her everything she had.
Jedrzejczyk was her usual technically sound fighter to start the fight, landing a hard right hand upstairs and close range combinations that had the champion reeling early on. However, Zhang began to found her rhythm as the round went on and was landing the more powerful punches towards the end.
The high-volume striking battle continued as both fighters had their shining moments in the mid rounds. Both fighters took turns landing powerful combinations and by round five, both were visibly battle-worn. Jedrzejczyk's forehead had a massive welt and Weili was bruised with a swollen eye.
By the fifth round, both fighters were visibly fatigue but continued to dig deep. Neither would let up from their relentless pace and the championship round was just as hard to score as the previous four. The fight ended but not without some excitement that perfectly summed up what the co-main event was all about; Jedrzejczyk landed a spinning backfist while Zhang responded with a punch of her own right before the horn sounded.
Both Weili and Jedrzejczyk left it all on the table and with neither folding, it went to the judges scorecards. The judges ultimately scored it 48-27 x2 and 47-48 for Zhang, who is now 21-1. It was her first successful title defense since winning the strawweight belt from Jessica Andrade last year.
Jedrzejczyk fell to 16-4. It was her third failed bid to recapture the strawweight title that she had once successfully defended five times before losing to Rose Namajunas in November 2017.
Check out some of the highlights below: