UFC: Dan Hardy thinks Zhang Weili could still be the one to shock Valentina Shevchenko
- MMA analyst and former UFC star Hardy thinks Zhang ‘carries the power to make a difference’ against flyweight champ
- Hardy says China’s former champ will be ‘dominant at the top’ of strawweight division but has ‘options’ if she moves up too
Zhang Weili may have lost the UFC strawweight title to Rose Namajunas, but Dan Hardy is adamant she still has the power to shock Valentina Shevchenko.
Whatever happens next, a potential move up to flyweight to challenge some of the top contenders, and even the surging champion Shevchenko, remains on the cards
“[Zhang]’s one of the most interesting opponents, in my opinion, for Shevchenko,” MMA analyst and former UFC welterweight title challenger Hardy told the Post. “Purely because I think Zhang Weili carries the power to make a difference.
“With my excitement that I give towards Jessica Andrade, the recklessness in her style is always going to cost her against Shevchenko.
“But with Zhang Weili you’ve got the power and the speed as well as the technique and the accuracy. So I think she’s got lots of options, I really do.”
UFC 261: Zhang Weili thinks Shevchenko ‘feels I pose a threat’
The 33-year-old “Bullet” Shevchenko (21-3) has looked unstoppable since a move down to flyweight in 2018 – none of her seven opponents have figured out the recipe, with the Kyrgyzstani claiming the vacant title and defending it five times.
“She’s powerful for the weight class, for strawweight” Hardy said of Zhang. “If you look at the way she trains, she does a lot of real strong core training, stability training with kettlebells holding positions. If she started to switch to more powerlifting, more plyometrics stuff, that power would transfer very, very easily.
“I also think she’s got it physiologically. You can see it in her shoulders and legs that she naturally gains muscle very easily. She’d probably be a great powerlifter as well. I certainly think at flyweight she would be a real force to be reckoned with.”
The idea of Zhang clashing with Shevchenko for the 125-pound title is an enticing one, but Hardy believes the 32-year-old Chinese star still has many options at the top of the strawweight division.
“I don’t see why she couldn’t get an immediate rematch,” Hardy said. “There’s such a narrative at the top of that division with the people who’ve already faced one another. Rose is incredible but Joanna’s up there as well, she gave Zhang Weili a hell of a fight. Who wouldn’t want to see that rematch?
“There’s a lot of interesting matchups for her but I also think she’s gonna be dominant at the top of that division whether she’s the champion or she’s the number one or two contender.”
“I would like to see the rematch against Rose. It wasn’t a long fight. We didn’t really see them get to take any chunks out of one another. But it was decisive at the same time. It’s just a deep division, isn’t it? But I do think she’s got options up at flyweight as well.”
