UFC: Henry Cejudo says ‘Zhang Weili 2.0 is coming’ for Rose Namajunas in strawweight title rematch
- Former UFC double champion lifts the lid on Zhang’s preparations for UFC 268 co-main event at Madison Square Garden
- China’s first UFC champ is training with Cejudo after moving fight camp from Beijing to Arizona, and is clearly working on her wrestling
Zhang Weili is still keeping her counsel when it comes to November 6’s titanic rematch for the UFC strawweight title against Rose Namajunas.
But her new training partner has lifted the lid on the Chinese former champ’s preparations for Madison Square Garden’s UFC 268 co-main event.
The 32-year-old Zhang (21-2) has moved her fight camp from her usual gym in Beijing to Fight Ready in Scottsdale, Arizona, touching down in the US three weeks ago and getting straight to work.
“Lock your doors, hide your thugs and give us all the roses, because Weili 2.0 is coming,” Henry Cejudo wrote in an Instagram post this week, alongside a picture of the two on the mats.
That Zhang is working with US Olympic wrestling gold medallist Cejudo, and the former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion’s coach, “Captain” Eric Albarracin, suggests that “Magnum” is perhaps looking to use a different game plan against the Lithuanian-American “Thug” (10-4) in New York.
Zhang got caught in the stand-up against the 29-year-old Namajunas, succumbing to a shock first-round head kick TKO at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, but all signs point to her utilising her ground game this time around.