Paid Members WeeAl Posted September 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 2, 2019 I just watched the top three fights. Kara-France put in a good performance, in a hard scrap with De La Rosa. I gave France the first two rounds of a fun fight. Li Jingliang looked better than I have ever seen him before, and really out a beating on EZ Dos Santos there at the end. Before the fight I had Dos Santos pegged to take this one comfortably, which made it all the more impressive from Li. What a spectacular win by Zhang though. Incredible stuff. To get the better of Andrade by being tactically and technically a better strike than her is one thing (Joanna and Rose right up until the slam) but to go out there and just wreck her, the way that Andrade tries to do to her opponents is quite a statement. Zhang just bulldozed through her here. That changes things at the top yet again at 115, which is a pretty damn exciting division. I'd guess the winner of JJ Vs Waterston gets the next shot, with Rose out on an indefinite break, Suarez injured, and Andrade would need a win or two before she fights for the title again after that fight. Fair play to Andrade though, she won the title in her home country but was determined to pay that opportunity forward and defend against an opponent on their turf, and I would say it ended up being a clear disadvantage for her, especially things like cutting weight in a country as different as China, against an opponent who is right at home. This could definitely change the game now though. If China jump with both feet into this, we could be looking at a lot more Chinese influence in the near future, both financially and through the amount of talented Chinese fighters that the country will start to produce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 2, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 2, 2019 (edited) Andrade has always appeared to be the most physically strong woman in the division but Zhang looked on a whole other level to her, shes an absolute beast. I dont really fancy the smaller women fairing well against her. Edited September 2, 2019 by Egg Shen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 2, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted September 2, 2019 The mad thing is it’s Andrade who used to fight at 135. If you didn’t know the fighters and looked at those weigh in face-off pics and someone told you one of them used to fight 2 weight classes higher, you’d swear it was Zhang. She must be one of the bigger 115lbers in the division. If she racks up a few defences against a Jedrzejczyk, Waterson, Suarez etc, I could see Zhang vs Shevchenko being a hell of a champ vs champ fight down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 22 hours ago, WeeAl said: This could definitely change the game now though. If China jump with both feet into this, we could be looking at a lot more Chinese influence in the near future, both financially and through the amount of talented Chinese fighters that the country will start to produce. Sadly, I think they'd have been more likely to see interest had it been a male champion crowned. I'm sure there will be interest, but not as much as they'd maybe hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 3, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 3, 2019 who knows? she might become a Ronda Rousey-like figure over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 On 9/3/2019 at 10:10 AM, Egg Shen said: who knows? she might become a Ronda Rousey-like figure over there. I don't think it's quite the same culturally over there unfortunately. It's still quite a male-dominated place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 A lot of the Chinese seem to think that MMA is predetermined. Ramsey Dewey, a MMA coach based in China, talked about it on his Youtube channel. Apparently, he kept getting asked whether Zhang's win was legitimate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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