Two of the most important fights of the 12 months are set to happen at UFC 322 in November.
Dana White recently announced a title fight double-header for the promotion’s return to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.
Each fights feature dominant champions moving up divisions after vacating their titles to pursue further glory at the burden class above.
There was loads of speak about Islam Makhachev’s clash with Jack Della Maddalena, however the co-main event is one other massive matchup that’s going to be incredibly difficult to predict.
Shauna Bannon doesn’t consider that Valentina Shevchenko may have a physical advantage over Zhang Weili
At UFC 322 in November, Valentina Shevchenko will put her flyweight title on the road against Zhang Weili.
Each women have put together incredibly impressive runs of their respective divisions, with Zhang vacating her strawweight belt to maneuver up.
The matchup is probably going going to be very difficult for fans and fellow fighters to predict within the construct to Madison Square Garden.
In a recent exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, UFC strawweight Shauna Bannon encountered this issue, as she looked to discover what could separate them.
One factor that the Irish star was capable of put aside was the possibility of there being a size difference, with Bannon claiming that she doesn’t expect the flyweight champion to be much greater than her opponent.
“I at all times thought Valentina was loads greater than she is but after I met her in Thailand, I used to be like, she’s actually not that big. She could probably be a strawweight… I don’t even think there’d be much between her and Weili size-wise. There’s definitely greater flyweights.”
As is prone to be the case for loads of people, Bannon ended up predicting her winner by the very slightest of margins.
“I feel Valentina. I feel she’s going to be really hyped for this since it’s someone recent… I feel barely Valentina however it could go either way.”
Shauna Bannon is motivated by the news of a vacant strawweight title fight
Through her sponsorship with Only Fans, Shauna Bannon is ready to present fans exclusive insight into her profession and all the things that goes into it.
This path now sees her heading to Paris on September 6 to face Sam Hughes, where she’s seeking to extend her UFC winning streak to a few.
UFC 321 in October will see a brand new strawweight champion emerge when Virna Jandiroba faces Mackenzie Dern for the belt that Zhang Weili vacated.
Bannon told Bloody Elbow that this matchup being announced has motivated her now that she has seen what is feasible with a number of more wins.
“I feel it shows that there’s a possibility. Mackenzie is ranked like five isn’t she? It shows that when you’re in that top 5 or 6 range, you would be fighting for the belt and I’m not one million miles away from that so it gives me that hope.”