Weili
Zhang was absolutely dominant against Amanda
Lemos in the UFC
292 co-main event.
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The Chinese star relied on takedowns, top control and
ground-and-pound to cruise to a unanimous verdict over Lemos on
Saturday at the TD Garden in Boston. Zhang now has won three
straight fights and has four victories in championship bouts to her
credit.
“The only challenge or opponent to me is myself,” Zhang said
through an interpreter at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.
“What we’re going to do every day is make (myself) better than who
I was yesterday.”
Outside of a pair of brabo choke attempts from her back, Lemos
rarely threatened the reigning champion. Zhang was more impressed
with the Brazilian’s resolve in the 25-minute affair.
“The submission she had in the first round was not that deep. She
didn’t really get my neck, so it’s not that dangerous to me,” Zhang
said. “… She’s unbelievably tough. I respect her. There were so
many moments in the fight I felt she was almost out, but she got
through this.”
Talk then quickly turned to what might be next for Zhang. Both
Tatiana
Suarez and Xiaonan Yan
were mentioned as potential foes, but Zhang first cited a desire
for some time off following a lengthy training camp.
“I started my training camp this time since March, so I left my
home for a couple months – such a long time,” Zhang said. “The only
thing in my mind right now is just returning to home together with
my family.”
However, of the two prospective foes, Zhang seemed more interested
in a matchup against Suarez.
“She’s good,” Weili said. “She’s undefeated. She’s a very good
fighter. I think she can be a potential challenger next.”
With that being said, there is also the possibility that Zhang
moves up to flyweight in a bid to become a two-division champ. At
the very least, she will be an interested observer when Alexa
Grasso and Valentina
Shevchenko square off next month.
“That was what I was thinking about is moving up to the flyweight
division,” Zhang said. “But let’s see what happens next in the 125
division.”