Duke Roufus will be joining forces with one of the UFC’s newest champions.
The head coach of Roufusport MMA in Milwaukee, Wis., Roufus announced via Instagram on Tuesday that he’ll be helping UFC strawweight champ [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] prepare for her first title defense against [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] at UFC 248, which takes place March 7.
Roufus said he’ll help the Chinese champion finish off her training camp at Roufusport so she can get acclimated to the U.S. before the fight.
Weili (20-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is coming off a big knockout win over then-champion Jessica Andrade in August. She hasn’t lost since her pro debut, amassing a 20-fight winning streak.
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Meanwhile, Jedrzejczyk (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is ridding a two-fight winning streak at strawweight. She’s 2-3 in her last five bouts, all losses coming in championship fights against Rose Namajunas and Valentina Shevchenko.
Roufus is regarded as one of the best MMA coaches. Most notably he’s trained fighters such as Anthony and Sergio Pettis, Paul Felder, Maycee Barber, Ben Askren, and others.
Below is Roufus’ announcement:
Martial Arts makes the World a better place & a smaller planet. I am excited to announce I will be assisting the @ufc Straw Weight Champion @zhangweilimma & her team for her Title Defense vs legendary Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk March 7 in Las Vegas. Thanks Coach @cai8005457 & the great people from China for the friendship. Weili will finish her training at @roufusport with her whole team to acclimate to the USA. Special thanks to our friend @tulsigabbard for helping Weili obtain her Visa to the USA. Thank you very much @suckerpunchent for creating this wonderful friendship & collaboration “The Shaolin & Rou-Tang Could be Dangerous” @wutangclan #martialarts is #life 🥋#weilizhang #zhangweili #tulsigabbard #usa #china #chinese #mma #chinesemma #sanda #kungfu #gungfu #wushu #ufc #ufc248 @roufusport #roufusportmma #roufusport #routangclan #positivevibes
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