Chinese mixed martial artist and UFC Champion Zhang Weili got into a heated media face-off with her opponent, Polish fighter Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
The two fighters got into an intense face-off during a media day for UFC 248 on Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to MMA Junkie.
At the event, Jedrzejczyk can be seen jawing at Zhang, also known as “Magnum,” as the former approached the Chinese opponent aggressively. Instead of being lured into her pettiness, Zhang played it cool and smiled at her opponent while telling her to “shut up.”
Zhang’s response to her opponent earned her a few laughs from the crowd.
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This isn’t the first time Zhang and Jedrzejczyk got into a heated encounter. The 30-year-old Chinese fighter told DAZN that she had called out her Polish opponent before she became the UFC Champion.
“She pretended that she didn’t know who I am, but she definitely knew who I was. She knew who I was then and knows who I am now when I became the champion,” Zhang said. “She called me out after her last fight and during the coronavirus outbreak. I already knew that she made that post. I blame it on the cultural difference because in China, we never make fun of people who are suffering from a tragedy. We help them out instead.”
“She’s doing such a bad thing to my country and to my people, which is really disrespectful,” Zhang added. “But like I said, probably the cultural diversity from the Chinese cultural perspective, I can just let it go. I forgive it.”
At the height of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China, Jedrzejczyk created a racist post where a picture was edited to make it look like she was wearing a gas mask.
Zhang made history in September 2019 when she became the first Chinese MMA fighter to win a championship belt in the UFC. Zhang’s win also marks the second-fastest finish in the division’s history when she took home the belt in a 42-second technical knock out (TKO) against Brazilian fighter, Jessica Andrade.
Zhang and Jedrzejczyk’s fight is set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Feature Image Screenshot via ESPN MMA
