News Weili Zhang: “The show is about to begin.”

[Sausage_Carius]

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And

Reality is a broken record. And you know that troll.

 

[Hirashin]

I believe in Chun Li

 

[Iron Nick]

I've already laid out the argument on Sherdog that Joanna is the most difficult challenge for Weili. Her counterstriking and footwork in the Andrade fight was a master class. She hasn't looked that good since and her prime is over.

Good points, i do however respectfully disagree with Joanna being out of her prime.

 

[BearGrounds]

 

[aerius]

This fights going to be interesting at kicking range, which is usually where joana excels, but man, weili is relentless with leg kicks. I think in boxing range, the clinch, and grappling weili has the advantage, but it's probably close everywhere.

I think Weili has the advantage in boxing range due to her power, but Joanna has her beat everywhere else. Almost everyone thinks Weili is a clinch monster because of the way she demolished Andrade, but we need to keep in mind that Jessica actually sucks in the clinch and was losing a number of clinch exchanges to Angela Hill of all people. This is like thinking Jeremy Stephens is an Aldo or Barboza level low kicker because he low kicked the shit out of Gilbert Melendez.

If we look at their fights against Tecia who is actually decent, Joanna owned her in the clinch whereas Zhang had a much closer matchup if you look at control and strikes landed and only went 2 for 8 on takedowns. Everyone underestimates Joanna's clinch game, this is a fighter who went up to 125 and gave Valentina a harder time in the clinch than anyone not named Nunes, and single-handedly tanked Shevchenko's clinch takedown stats.

 

[usernamee]

I love her and she is a beast. But watching her not fully stretch on those pull-ups kind of bothers me.

 

[fortheo]

I think Weili has the advantage in boxing range due to her power, but Joanna has her beat everywhere else. Almost everyone thinks Weili is a clinch monster because of the way she demolished Andrade, but we need to keep in mind that Jessica actually sucks in the clinch and was losing a number of clinch exchanges to Angela Hill of all people. This is like thinking Jeremy Stephens is an Aldo or Barboza level low kicker because he low kicked the shit out of Gilbert Melendez.

If we look at their fights against Tecia who is actually decent, Joanna owned her in the clinch whereas Zhang had a much closer matchup if you look at control and strikes landed and only went 2 for 8 on takedowns. Everyone underestimates Joanna's clinch game, this is a fighter who went up to 125 and gave Valentina a harder time in the clinch than anyone not named Nunes, and single-handedly tanked Shevchenko's clinch takedown stats.

You might be right about the clinch but I don't agree with Joanna being better "everywhere else" weili is certainly the better grappler and I can see her hitting takedowns on Joana and getting some control time similar to how shevchenko did, but probably with a bit less success than shevchenko had.

 

[ignorant MMA fan]

Joanna by decision. Her range, volume and movement will be too much.

 

[Mammothman]

I know she won. I'm not disputing that. I'm pointing out the fact that she took damage from "Tiny Tornado" and couldn't finish her. I don't see how she's supposed to brutalize Joanna.

And who was the last person that finished Tecia? I'm pretty sure it wasn't Joanna

 

[ignorant MMA fan]

You might be right about the clinch but I don't agree with Joanna being better "everywhere else" weili is certainly the better grappler and I can see her hitting takedowns on Joana and getting some control time similar to how shevchenko did, but probably with a bit less success than shevchenko had.

As I recall Shevchenko didn't have much success in the clinch or on the ground. Counter striking is where I think Weili will find her success.

 

[Momentosis]

I know she won. I'm not disputing that. I'm pointing out the fact that she took damage from "Tiny Tornado" and couldn't finish her. I don't see how she's supposed to brutalize Joanna.

Did you know Tecia also fought Joanna

 

[Mammothman]

As a huge Joanna hater I'm a bit worried about this fight and I think it would fuck the division if she wins, then we know Rose will come and kill her again.

Right now this is a 50/50 for me

 

[ignorant MMA fan]

I need to re-watch Torres/Zhang. As I recall Zhang was tired in the 3rd and plodding forward like Aspen Ladd. She can't do that against Joanna and hope to win.

 

[vgff]

Wouldn't want to fight those dudes

if that's too much for you, you probably won't fight any dudes at all

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

Condolences to the Jzerzyzhchcdhccyk family

 

[fortheo]

As I recall Shevchenko didn't have much success in the clinch or on the ground. Counter striking is where I think Weili will find her success.

Shevchenko had a lot of success on the ground. She took Joanna down 5 times, passed her guard and controlled her for significant amount of time to steal rounds. It was a big factor in that fight.

 

[vgff]

I know she won. I'm not disputing that. I'm pointing out the fact that she took damage from "Tiny Tornado" and couldn't finish her. I don't see how she's supposed to brutalize Joanna.

Tecia "Tiny Tornado" Torres has never been finished in her pro career, not even by Joanna. she's statistically one of the least hittable fighters in the SW division.

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

lol are you trying to argue that she lost that fight? Her cardio was tested but that's because Tecia is impossible to knock out. AFAIK Tecia has never been finished in her career.

I know she won. I'm not disputing that. I'm pointing out the fact that she took damage from "Tiny Tornado" and couldn't finish her. I don't see how she's supposed to brutalize Joanna.

It's funny you use Tecia Torres to put Zhang down. Did you see her fight joanna? She was able to control and bully joanna against the cage, Joanna was able to land alot of volume like that for the W. Yet you less impressed by all the times Zhang rocked Torres, or took her down, sure Torres landed the odd strike but she took a way worse beating. And that was Zhang's worst fight. Rose rocked joanna how many times even Michelle tagged her. If Zhang catches joanna like that it's all over because she doesn't hesitate like rose.

I've already laid out the argument on Sherdog that Joanna is the most difficult challenge for Weili. Her counterstriking and footwork in the Andrade fight was a master class. She hasn't looked that good since and her prime is over.

This version of Joanna was a different animal, I'd probably favour her. But JJ is always a threat.

 

[fortheo]

I need to re-watch Torres/Zhang. As I recall Zhang was tired in the 3rd and plodding forward like Aspen Ladd. She can't do that against Joanna and hope to win.

Round three was one of her most active rounds.......

 

[aerius]

You might be right about the clinch but I don't agree with Joanna being better "everywhere else" weili is certainly the better grappler and I can see her hitting takedowns on Joana and getting some control time similar to how shevchenko did, but probably with a bit less success than shevchenko had.

I disagree with regards to takedowns. Consider that Andrade went 10 for 12 against Tecia on takedowns but only got 2 out of 10 against Joanna. The difference in takedown defence ability between Tecia and Joanna is huge, and considering that Zhang wasn't having an easy time against Tecia she's going to struggle even more against Joanna. It's pretty much the difference between taking down Urijah Faber who is reasonably solid and Jose Aldo who is levels above everyone else.

The other thing to note is Zhang's takedown techniques compared to Valentina's. Shevchenko times her takedowns far better and can chain together sequences with violent direction reversals. She'll bait you into trying to knee her then sweep the leg, start pulling you in one direction to get you defending that way then suddenly reverse the throw in the opposite direction, work sneaky leg bumps into her throws, or just straight up suplex you if don't defend the hips. And she can put all the above together in tight sequences that are nearly impossible to defend. Zhang doesn't have that, she can get a good initial move at times like the trip she hit on Tecia in the 3rd, but if it's stuffed she doesn't have the chain to continue the attack the Valentina or Tatiana Suarez do. You don't see the advanced techniques, timing, and chains from Zhang that are used by Shevchenko and Suarez.

With grappling, Weili is probably better on the ground but Joanna never hangs around there so who knows? If we include clinch fighting as part of grappling, Joanna has the advantage there, she understands grip control & frames a lot better than Zhang does. There's a reason that Joanna's pretty much laughed at everyone in the clinch at SW.