Valentina Shevchenko believes Weili Zhang loses her title in next fight

Valentina Shevchenko doubts Weili Zhang will be a UFC champion for much longer.

In the co-main event of UFC 248, Zhang edged out a split-decision win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The win also served as her first title defense since winning the belt with a first-round knockout win over Jessica Andrade.

Although Zhang got the job done, Shevchenko thought Jedrzejczyk should’ve won on the judges scorecards. The flyweight champ also says that performance makes her believe Zhang’s reign as champion ends in her next fight.

“She did good. She’s strong,” Shevchenko said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “But you could see, once she starts [to] get the real competition, the real level of martial artist, the top level of fighters, the top level of opponent, now she has a struggle. You could see how difficult was this fight with Joanna, her fight, how difficult it was. And I really don’t see Weili defending her belt in the next title fight.”

Why she thought the Pole won the fight was simple.

“In my opinion, Joanna won this fight because her accuracy was more on point,” Valentina Shevchenko explained. “And yes, she gets this inflammation on her head, but it was just one punch.”

Yet, Shevchenko is not a judge so it was Zhang who got the win. Who she will fight next is uncertain. There is a case for a rematch with Jedrzejczyk, yet Shevchenko believes Rose Namajunas gets the next crack at the title and beats the Chinese champion.

But, if somehow Weili Zhang remains the strawweight champion for a long time, Valentina Shevchenko is interested in the scrap as she says it would be an easy fight.

“I’ll gladly fight her and I don’t see any difficulties in this fight,” she concluded

Do you agree with Valentina Shevchenko that Weili Zhang’s reign as a champion is coming to an end? Sound off in the comment section, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/9/2020.