UFC 322: Daniel Cormier previews Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili
Daniel Cormier previews the women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili at UFC 322.
Daniel Cormier thinks Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili is the highest display of skill of any female fight in UFC history.
Flyweight champion Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) welcomes dominant former strawweight champ Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) to her division in Saturday’s UFC 322 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+/FX, ESPN+) co-main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
In her second reign as champion, Weili defended her belt three times against Amanda Lemos, Yan Xiaonan, and Tatiana Suarez before opting to relinquish her belt for a move up to 125 pounds. Meanwhile, Shevchenko reclaimed her UFC title from Alexa Grasso then handed Manon Fiorot her first octagon loss in May. “Bullet” defended her belt seven times in her first reign as champion.
“I think this is the greatest female fight of all time,” Cormier told MMA Junkie Radio. “Now, Ronda Rousey-Holly Holm will always be, in my opinion, the biggest fight in female mixed martial arts history – 60,000 people, a boxing world champion vs. Ronda, the woman that brought mixed martial arts in the UFC for females. That will always be the biggest fight. I believe this is the best female fight we’ve ever seen. (Cris) Cyborg vs. Amanda (Nunes) would be second because the skill level is so high. Zhang Weili is as good of a fighter, male or female, in the world – but so is Valentina Shevchenko. Valentina has beaten so many people.
“When you start to look into their records, Valentina’s title-fight wins are now starting to rival some of the greats like Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, and all those people that felt like their records were unattainable. Zhang Weili has completely dominated the 115-pound weight class since she got that belt back from Carla Esparza. It’s been nothing but domination by these two women. Yes, I believe that they’re both on the female Mount Rushmore, and I believe that they will go down in history as two of the greatest fighters, regardless of gender, to ever step foot in the UFC’s octagon.”
Weili will attempt to achieve something Shevchenko wasn’t able to do. Shevchenko started out her UFC tenure at bantamweight and challenged Amanda Nunes for the title in 2017 but fell short by split decision. That prompted her move down to flyweight, where she has since ruled the division.
