The strawweight title fight has already been dubbed one of the greatest women’s fights in UFC history, and an early Fight of the Year contender, with both fighters landing an astonishing number of strikes in a back-and-forth brawl that could have gone either way.
It was Zhang who emerged victorious in a split-decision, retaining her belt, with a string of hard shots in the third round leaving Jedrzejczyk with a massive swelling on her forehead.
Jedrzejczyk’s head swelled up after a volley of strikes from defending champ Weili.
By the start of the championship rounds, the 32-year-old was barely recognisable – though she had done plenty of damage to Weili too – and both fighters were taken to hospital after the bout.
Jedrzejczyk was interviewed in the octagon briefly after her defeat and tried to cover her head with a Poland flag, saying of her injuries: ‘You see my swellness, I felt this. She did great. There was something missing, but I felt all the punches you know.
‘From the third round the swellness was bothering me and I felt it was just getting more and more swollen and my head was like going on and off. But all good, congratz Zhang and I’m very happy we gave you a good fight.’
UFC president Dana White was asked if he might set up a rematch between the pair at the post-fight press conference, though feels both need to focus on recovering. ‘Did you see what those two girls looked like after that fight? They’re both in the hospital right now,’ he said.
