By:  | June 12, 2022 10:44 am

The first fight between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jędrzejczyk was close but the Chinese strawweight won the rematch in emphatic style. She landed a spinning back fist midway through the second round which instantly finished the fight at UFC 275.

Zhang was coming off back to back losses to Rose Namajunas while Jędrzejczyk has not fought since losing to the Chinese fighter in 2020. They went toe to toe right from the opening bell.

Both were landing punches with Zhang kicking high and low before having her legs swept out from under her by Jędrzejczyk. She responded with a body kick of her own before shooting for a takedown.

Ground and pound

Zhang attacked relentlessly with ground and pound as Jędrzejczyk looked to work her way back up. She briefly found herself back on her feet only to be taken down again and mounted.

Zhang landed seven or eight hard elbows in a row towards the end of the round before Jędrzejczyk worked her way back up as the round ended with both fighters on their feet. The Polish fighter’s face bore the brunt of the damage and she could be seen taking deep breaths.

Jędrzejczyk looked to establish her jab at the start of the second round but lunged forwards while looking to land a right hand and was laid out by a spinning back fist from Zhang. The finish came at the 2:28 mark and the Chinese fighter is guaranteed a title shot after her first victory in two years.

Zhang improves to 22-3 while Jędrzejczyk drops to 16-5. After the fight the Polish fighter, a former UFC strawweight champion, announced that she would be retiring from the sport.

Best of the rest

The other Chinese fighters on the card had mixed fortunes. Lightweight Maheshate (9-1) scored an incredible one punch KO over Steve Garcia (12-5) on his UFC debut, perfectly timing a counter right hand.

But strawweight Liang Na (19-6) found herself on the receiving end of one of the most brutal knockouts of the year. Silvana Gómez Juárez (11-4) rattled her jaw with a right hand and then finished the fight with a left what landed right on the button.

In the bantamweight division the accuracy of Kang Kyung-Ho (18-9) prevailed over the output of Danaa Batgerel (12-4). The Mongolian was the aggressor but the judges favoured the efficiency of the Korean who won by 29-28 across the board.

UFC 275, Singapore, June 12th
Weili Zhang def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk by KO (spinning back fist) at 2:28 of R2
Jake Matthews def. André Fialho by KO (Punches) at 2:24 of R2
Jack Della Maddalena def. Ramazan Emeev by TKO (Punches) at 2:32 of R1
Joshua Culibao def. Seung Woo Choi by Decision (Split)
Maheshate def. Steve Garcia by KO (Punch) at 1:14 of R1
Brendan Allen def. Jacob Malkoun by Decision (Unanimous)
Kang Kyung-Ho def. Danaa Batgerel by Decision (Unanimous)
Silvana Gómez Juárez def. Liang Na by KO (Punches) at 1:22 of R1
Joselyne Edwards def. Ramona Pascual by Decision (Unanimous)