Joanna Jedrzejczyk opens up on recent meeting with Zhang Weili: “I’m super proud of her”

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is good friends with Zhang Weili today.

‘Joanna Champion’ has been retired from MMA for nearly two years now. Joanna Jedrzejczyk last competed at UFC 275 in June 2022, facing old rival Zhang Weili. ‘Magnum’ was fresh off back-to-back losses to Rose Namajunas, and was trying to return to title contention.

The bout itself also came over two years after their first meeting at UFC 248. There, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili turned in one of the best fights in MMA history. They went back and forth for five rounds, with the Chinese fighter retaining her strawweight title by split decision.

Sadly, Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Zhang Weili 2 wasn’t nearly as competitive. The former champion was knocked out badly in their rematch two years ago, and retired post-fight. Since then, the former champion has kept good to her word about fighting again. Instead, she’s moved onto the world of management and behind-the-scenes work.

With that, she’s also put her rivalry with Zhang Weili to bed as well. The two greats were seen meeting last month, with Joanna Jedrzejczyk releasing a video of them to social media. A month later on The MMA Hour, the former champion opened up on the meeting, and it was like learning about Weili outside of fighting.

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Joanna Jedrzejczyk opens up on friendship with former UFC rival Zhang Weili

“She’s such a sweetheart you know?” Joanna Jedrzejczyk stated on The MMA Hour, referring to Zhang Weili. “I remember from our first title fight, it was like a Super Bowl media scrum. We had the Super Bowl in Miami in 2020, and I remember it was the media day like three days before. She was like ‘You’re so beautiful!” I know Weili but thank you! I’m a person I need these staredowns to make myself more aggressive in the sport way.”

She continued, “She was like, ‘You’re so beautiful’, what the heck? Like, it’s a beauty contest, we have to fight soon. She was always so nice. She DM’d me a few times [afterward]… Weili texted she was like ‘Please, let’s meet, come to my house let’s have dinner!’ Yeah, it was nice to learn about her country and her friends.”

“…She’s such a nice, caring person.” Joanna Jedrzejczyk concluded. “Thank you Weili.”

While Joanna Jedrzejczyk is currently retired from competition, Zhang Weili is still active. ‘Magnum’ is set to return to the octagon next month, in the co-main event of UFC 300. There, the reigning women’s strawweight champion will face Yan Xiaonan.

What do you make of these comments from Joanna Jedrzejczyk? Are you excited about Zhang Weili’s return scheduled for UFC 300 next month?