UFC 322: Why Valentina Shevchenko-Zhang Weili represents the best of women’s MMA

When it comes to classifying just how great Saturday’s UFC 322 co-main event bout truly is between two-time flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko and former two-time strawweight queen Zhang Weili, it’s important to first declare what this fight isn’t. 

First and foremost, this isn’t the most important fight in women’s MMA history. 

That distinction belongs to the Amanda Nunes-Cris Cyborg featherweight title showdown at UFC 232 in 2018 that matched the two most accomplished female fighters and completed the handoff of Nunes becoming the G.O.A.T. One could also make an argument, from a pioneering standpoint, for Cyborg-Gina Carano in 2009 under the Strikeforce banner, which marked the first time two women headlined a major MMA event. 

Shevchenko-Zhang also isn’t as big, from a box office or cultural relevance standpoint, as many of Ronda Rousey’s biggest fights, including the first UFC women’s title bout against Liz Carmouche in 2013, her 2015 loss to Holly Holm in front of 56,124 people in Melbourne, Australia, or her 2016 loss to Nunes at UFC 207 which, like the Holm bout (and her 2013 rematch with Miesha Tate) produced more than a reported 1 million pay-per-view buys each.

Instead, when the 37-year-old Shevchenko (25-4-1) defends her 125-pound title inside New York’s Madison Square Garden against the 36-year-old Chinese star Zhang (26-3) in a true pairing of the No. 1 and 2 pound-for-pound female fighters on the planet, the significance of the matchup is somewhat unique to itself. 

The pair of first-ballot, future Hall of Famers, with a combined four UFC title reigns and 12 total defenses, just might be the two most skilled and complete fighters to ever stand across from one another in the still relatively short history of women competing in the sport. It also isn’t out of bounds to suggest they are two of the five best female fighters to step foot into the Octagon. 

“Weili and Valentina, they represent the sport so well. They are just pure martial artists and everyone knows it, too,” Armando Rosales, who served as Shevchenko’s assistant coach for this training camp at Zen Martial Arts in El Paso, Texas, told “UFC Countdown” cameras. “Everyone knows the purity of this fight. That is what sets this fight apart from all of the other women’s fights.”

For Zhang, the first Chinese-born UFC champion, the fight offers her a shot to join an exclusive club as just the 11th two-division champion in promotional history (the same goal of Saturday’s headliner, Islam Makhachev, when he moves up to welterweight to challenge champion Jack Della Maddalena). 

Despite a pair of 2021 title losses to Rose Namajunas that propelled her to evolve her game, Zhang is 10-0 against everyone else she has faced in her seven years as a UFC fighter. And the combination of her four title defenses over two reigns, along with her wins over former champions Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jedrzejczyk (twice) and Carla Esparza, have left many calling her the best UFC fighter to ever compete at 115 pounds.

“I just want to push my own limits and not set limits for myself,” Zhang said, through a translator. “I think that human potential is limitless so we must keep trying to break through. I feel that moving from strawweight to flyweight is a way of pushing past my own limits.”

The first loss to Namajunas had previously prompted Zhang to bring in former two-division UFC champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo to overhaul her wrestling. And to prepare for Shevchenko, Zhang took her training camp to Thailand under the direction of former UFC lightweight contender Brad Riddell.

 “Weili, over the last [few] years, has started to become a very good wrestler and a very good grappler,” Shevchenko’s long-time head trainer, Pavel Fedotov, said. “But, I think Valentina has a little bit more experience and that’s to her advantage. Valentina, I have trained for more than 30 years. She’s a 17-time muay thai champion. She knows her technique, she knows what she can expect from [Zhang] so she will do everything perfect to win this fight.”

It should come as no surprise that Shevchenko didn’t hesitate to accept Zhang as her next challenge once she was presented the fight. 

A former bantamweight contender with wins over former champions Holly Holm and Julianna Pena, Shevchenko nearly captured the 135-pound title in a disputed loss via split decision to Nunes in their 2017 rematch. From there, she dropped down to the newly created flyweight division and recorded nine consecutive victories at her more natural weight. 

Across two title flyweight title reigns, Shevchenko has recorded a UFC women’s record of eight title defenses and she avenged a 2023 upset submission loss to Alexa Grasso by fighting to a disputed draw in their rematch before soundly outpointing her to regain the title in their trilogy the following year.

“Since the beginning, my goal was to win and beat the best,” Shevchenko said. “Second is not the best, only No. 1. Only the top is the best in the whole world. This is the mindset that my coach, Pavel Fedotov, instilled in me after my first training. This mindset he put it in my head that no matter what you are doing, you have to do it the best that you can. It’s the only way you can actually discover your best qualities and your best skills. This is what has fueled me as a person and I have just been like that all my life.”

With a victory, Shevchenko would tie her chief rival Nunes for the UFC women’s record for most title wins with 10. A win could send Shevchenko back to bantamweight in pursuit of a second world title after she said in recent interviews that she would be interested in facing current champion Kayla Harrison at the UFC White House event in June. 

Even more, beating Zhang would give Shevchenko, who owns flyweight wins over former 115-pound champions Jedrzejczyk and Andrade, the singular defining win that her career has lacked up to this point while bringing an end to the current debate as to whether she or Zhang is more deserving of P4P queen status.  

“Being the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter means a lot for me,” Shevchenko said. “It’s [my] responsibility to keep that spot. And to keep it, it means you have to be very focused at what you are doing. Every training and every fight you are evolving because if a fighter stops evolving, it’s the end.

“Weili is an amazing fighter but I’m not here to praise my opponents, I’m here to beat them. And I put everything into having the same goal: go there, win the fight and have my belt.”

To illustrate how evenly matched this classic fight truly is, oddsmakers have listed it as a virtual pick ’em throughout the build to Saturday as both fighters look to showcase their skill, discipline and daring-to-be-great ethos. 

“Life is about constantly pushing your own limits,” Zhang said. “It’s accomplishing my life ambition, fulfilling my purpose in life. Only by delivering great results will you gain more and more attention and inspire others. 

“My fight with Valentina was meant to be. This is a passing of the torch.”