Erin Blanchfield doesn’t see UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili replicating her success at flyweight.
Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is interested in a potential superfight with flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC), who makes her next title defense against Manon Fiorot in the UFC 315 co-main event (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) May 10 in Montreal. However, top flyweight contender Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) doesn’t think Weili has the size to reign supreme in the weight class above.
“She’s really tough, so I could see her winning some kind of like how Rose (Namajunas) was able to win some moving up, but I think she’s really tiny,” Blanchfield said in an interview with Home of Fight. “I’ve seen her in person. She’s very short, especially for 125. I don’t think she would be a champ at 125.”
Blanchfield will look to emerge into title contention when she takes on Maycee Barber (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN 68 headliner May 31 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. She likes how she matches up with Weili should she move up to flyweight.
“I would see myself finishing her,” Blanchfield said of Weili. “I feel like it’d be similar to (Jessica) Andrade. I feel like they’d have that same build, and they’re both aggressive. So I could see myself finishing her.”
