"I want to fight Valentina Shevchenko for UFC women's flyweight title" - Weili Zhang

UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang has finally recovered from her scintillating battle against former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 and is ready to move on to her next challenge inside the Octagon, after the end of a lengthy period of quarantine in her native China due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Zhang defeated Jedrzejczyk in a title clash widely regarded as one of the greatest fights of all time back in March following which she left for her home in China, where she had to endure a two-week-long period of isolation in her country.

Speaking on a conference call (South China Morning Post), Zhang revealed she had always wanted to defeat Jedrzejczyk in a fight so it was a "dream come true" moment for her; however, Zhang was a bit critical of her own performance on the night, claiming to have learnt a lot of important lessons from the fight.

“Joanna is very strong and she has always been my ‘imaginary enemy’ in training. It was like a dream come true after beating her. But I really feel I didn’t fight well. The experience showed me I need to be mentally stronger and more confident in my physical side. Before the bout, many people were afraid I would tire physically, but I made it through five rounds in the Octagon.”

Zhang wants to become a two weight world champion in the UFC

Although Zhang wants to continue to dominate the strawweight division, she has greater ambitions to pursue in the near future. Zhang revealed she wants to move up to the flyweight division and challenge reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko for the title.

“I want to remain the undisputed strawweight champion. If possible, I also want to challenge up a weight to fight with the champion [Shevchenko].”