Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili will finally battle it out in the octagon, and the opening betting lines believe it will be a razor-close fight.
UFC CEO Dana White announced on Thursday that Zhang is vacating the UFC strawweight title in lieu of a move up to the women’s flyweight division, where she’ll challenge Shevchenko for her world title in the co-main event of UFC 322. The card takes place Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden, and is headlined by Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev for the welterweight championship.
According to FanDuel, the fight opened as nearly a pick’em, with Shevchenko a minuscule favorite at -115, with the comeback on Zhang at -111.
Both women are two-time champions, and have strong cases to be the greatest fighters in the history of their divisions. Zhang vacated her title after three title defenses in her latest reign, including handing Tatiana Suarez her first career loss with a lopsided decision win at UFC 312 in February.
Shevchenko regained her title against the woman who ended the first title reign of “Bullet,” Alexa Grasso with a dominant decision win at UFC 306 this past September. Shevchenko successfully defended her title at UFC 315 in May with a decision win against Manon Fiorot.
