Arguably the greatest fight in women’s mixed martial arts history, and one of the greatest fights ever, is getting a sequel as former UFC strawweight champions [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] and [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] have agreed to a rematch.
ESPN, citing UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell, reported on Saturday that Jedrzejczyk and Weili have agreed to run it back June 11 at UFC 275 in Singapore.
Jedrzejczyk (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Weili (21-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) partook in the consensus 2020 Fight of the Year at UFC 248, a grueling five-round battle won by then-champion Weili to retain her title. Weili is no longer champion, and Jedrzejczyk hasn’t fought in the two-plus years since losing to her.
Weili, 32, is coming off back-to-back losses to Rose Namajunas, who took the title from her with a first-round knockout last April at UFC 261. Seven months later, Weili fell short in her attempt to reclaim the belt by losing a split decision to Namajunas at UFC 268.
Since back-to-back losses herself to Namajunas, Jedrzejczyk, 34, has alternated wins and losses in her past four fights. She’s defeated Tecia Torres and Michelle Waterson but lost a flyweight title fight against Valentina Shevchenko before most recently dropping the split decision to Weili.
Uncertainty because of the COVID-19 pandemic and handling outside ventures have kept Jedrzejczyk out of action since March 2020. She recently told MMA Junkie that a rematch with Weili was her “No. 1 interest,” and now she’ll get it.
Weili and Jedrzejczyk will enter the fight ranked Nos. 2 and 5, respectively, in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie strawweight rankings.
A title-fight rematch between champ Namajunas and former champ Carla Esparza is on deck for next month at UFC 274.
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