Legendary UFC Title Fight Gets Hall of Fame Nod in Historic UFC 326 Announcement

One of the greatest title fights in UFC history will officially be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame later this year.

Although much of the pre-event focus ahead of UFC 326 in terms of breaking news was centered on the UFC White House card, the UFC decided to drop another major announcement on the broadcast immediately after Gregory Rodrigues kicked off the event’s main card with a first-round knockout of Brunno Ferreira.

The news will come as little surprise to longtime MMA fans, as the UFC 248 strawweight title bout between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang is about as Hall of Fame-worthy as any fight in UFC history.

First Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Weili Zhang Fight Headed To UFC HOF

The second strawweight champion in the history of the UFC, Jedrzejczyk unseated the division’s inaugural champion Carla Esparza at UFC 185 and went on to establish herself as an all-time great with five successful title defenses.

Jedrzejczyk relinquished her belt to Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 before she also came up short in their immediate rematch, but after a failed women’s flyweight title bit against Valentina Shevchenko the Polish star earned a chance to reclaim her strawweight belt by defeating Michelle Waterson.

Weili Zhang (red gloves) fights Joanna Jedrzejczyk (blue gloves) during UFC 248 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Zhang won the 115 lbs. strap from Jessica Andrade (who defeated Namajunas at UFC 237) and was matched with Jedrzejczyk for her first title defense at UFC 248. The two women went to war at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, and after five hard-fought rounds it was Zhang who got her hand raised by split decision and retained her belt.

"Magnum" Retired Jedrzejczyk With Vicious Knockout In UFC 275 Rematch

The two women would eventually meet again two years later in a non-title bout at UFC 275, where Zhang sent Jedrzejczyk into retirement with an incredible spinning back fist knockout in the second round.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk (red gloves) fights Michelle Waterson (blue glove) during UFC Fight Night at Amalie Arena. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The stunning victory gave “Magnum” the opportunity to rematch Esparza at UFC 281 later that year. After submitting Esparza in the second round, Zhang’s second UFC title reign saw her secure three successful title defenses against Amanda Lemos, Yan Xiaonan, and Tatiana Suarez.

Zhang Weili during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The 36-year-old elected to vacate the UFC strawweight belt last year in order to try and pursue a second belt at women’s flyweight, but a showdown with Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 saw Zhang suffer a unanimous decision loss.