If successful at UFC 321, Virna Jandiroba hopes to get an opportunity to erase any doubts about who is the best strawweight on the planet.
Zhang Weili left the 115-pound title vacant to prepare for a flyweight title challenge against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322. Saturday at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, Jandiroba (22-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) will share the cage with Mackenzie Dern in a rematch, but this time with much higher stakes, with the vacant strawweight title on the line.
Should she defeat Dern (15-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) to avenge a prior decision loss and become the new champion, Jandiroba understands that there will be some who question what would happen between her and Zhang. While the Brazilian grappler doesn’t believe that Zhang’s absence would necessarily loom over her title reign if they never fought, she thinks it’s likely that the now-former champ will return to strawweight regardless of the result against Shevchenko.
“There’s a very good chance that no matter what happens, Weili eventually comes down again, where she was so dominant,” Jandiroba told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “I don’t think that not fighting her for the belt maybe brings down the value of the belt. I think the belt itself is the most important thing, no matter who is on the other side of the cage.
“As a professional, as a person, I would like to have that challenge to fight someone who has been as dominant as Weili has and really task myself and see. I believe can give her a good fight. I have all the tools to get the win there, but a fight is always a fight, and I don’t know what’s gonna happen when the door closes, but I think it would be a fantastic challenge for me as a person and as an athlete.”
Assuming the title is placed around her waist at UFC 321, Jandiroba, 37, would like to defend the title at least twice a year. She has no desire to be as active of a champion as Merab Dvalishvili, who will attempt a fourth title defense in a calendar year in December, but certainly wants to fight more than once a year like Zhang did during her strawweight reign.
“You can’t compete with Merab, he’s a specimen,” Jandiroba said. “What he does is not really physically or humanly possible, but he somehow does it. Going through four camps in a year, even if it’s not super high-level, it’s a lot.
“Fighting once a year is something I don’t think it would be good for me. What I have been doing lately is always two fights a year. With two fights a year, I’m able to do two full camps to prepare properly and really do the work. I think that’ll be ideal as a champion, if I can defend it twice a year, I think it’s the best scenario.”
