Erin Blanchfield doubts Zhang Weili finds success at flyweight: ‘I don’t really see her even being top 5 at 125’
Erin Blanchfield hopes a statement win over Maycee Barber at UFC Vegas 107 puts her in title contention, but the line to get to reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko might get a little longer if strawweight queen Zhang Weili decides to move to 125 pounds.
Following Shevchenko’s unanimous decision win over Manon Fiorot at UFC 315, Zhang wasted no time offering a congratulations along with a statement hinting at her pursuit of a second title saying “everything has lined up perfectly, it‘s destiny.” While nothing has been decided yet, Shevchenko vs. Zhang might be the biggest women’s fight available in the UFC right now, and Blanchfield definitely wasn’t blindsided with that possibility.
“I know that now if people want to move up to another weight class, they’re making them vacate their belt at the lower weight class and stay in the higher weight class,” Blanchfield told MMA Fighting. “I’m not sure that’s something [Zhang wants to do]. Like I’m sure Weili wants to fight Valentina because who doesn’t? They’ve both been around for a while, and it would be a cool champ versus champ fight, but I don’t know if she wants to stay at 125 and fight the rest of the girls in that division.
“I think that would be really hard for me. But if she moves up, I plan on winning my fight, and then maybe I have to fight again if I fight [Natalia] Silva or something like that, then I can get a title shot. I feel like no matter how it works out, it’s going to be soon.”
As dominant as Zhang has been ruling over the 115-pound women’s division, Blanchfield doesn’t expect her to find nearly as much success at flyweight.
Blanchfield felt much the same when former champion Rose Namajunas decided to move up to 125 pounds where she’s currently sporting a 2-2 record overall in the division. While there’s no denying that both Zhang and Namajunas are incredible fighters, Blanchfield knows weight classes in the UFC exist for a reason.
“I think Weili would be very similar [to Rose],” Blanchfield said. “I think she could win some fights at flyweight, because she is very good. But I don’t see her being a champ. I don’t really see her even being top five at 125.
“Rose was able to beat her twice and knock her out once. Rose is a little bit bigger than Weili, at least height wise so Weili has even less of an advantage at 125 being even shorter. She could fight there but I don’t see her being top five or champ at 125.”
Blanchfield’s opinion may not be popular with Zhang’s biggest supporters but the 26-year-old flyweight won’t shy away from making a bold prediction just like she did when Namajunas came to the division.
All the success at strawweight might make Zhang one of the greatest 115-pound fighters in history but that doesn’t necessarily translate to wins in a bigger weight class.
“I think when you have a lot of success at a weight class, I think people start thinking ‘I could do this at any weight,’” Blanchfield said. “It’s like you’re underestimating [the competition].
“It only sounds like 10 pounds on paper but a lot of these girls are cutting from a lot higher [weight]. So I think they kind of underestimate the size difference between weight classes.”
Outside of Zhang possibly coming up to flyweight, Blanchfield knows she also has to contend with a potential challenge from Natalia Silva, who is currently 7-0 in the UFC with her most recent win coming over former champion Alexa Grasso.
Blanchfield admits she’s been impressed by Silva so far, although not totally surprised at the way she’s been winning.
“I knew Silva was going to do that,” Blanchfield said about the fight against Grasso. “That’s her style. She hits and runs, hits and runs. She’s very good at it. Alexa kind of fed right into it, she was chasing her too much.
“You don’t know how it is. Alexa lost her title, it might be a little bit hard for her to get over. I don’t know what her camp was like. I think she could have done more but she wasn’t able to [at UFC 315].”
Whether Zhang or Silva get the next title shot is really inconsequential to Blanchfield until she gets through Barber next Saturday at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
If she’s able to not only win but put Barber away by knockout or submission, the New Jersey native that’s going to speak volumes about her own candidacy for a chance to face Shevchenko next.
“I think if I go out there and finish Maycee, which I know I can, that puts me ahead,” Blanchfield said. “I think a finish is always better than a decision win.
“I’m always focused on the fight ahead. I feel like the media things, the Weili fight, I feel like people are always trying to throw distractions at me so it’s something you always have to deal with leading into every fight. I think everything has its timing. I have a lot to grow on and to improve on. I think this fight will be a good opportunity to do that.”