Two years after their memorable fight of the year, Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk met on Saturday night at UFC 275 in Singapore.

Weili won flawlessly with a K.-O. in the second round on a reverse punch that brutally sent Jedrzejczyk to the floor.

“I was calm before this fight. It was a fight with myself, not against Joanna. When I’m true to myself, I can beat anyone,” said Weili, who is hoping for her title shot against new strawweight champion Carla Esparza.

Jedrzejczyk, one of the best female fighters in history, announced her retirement with great emotion. She concludes her career with a 16-5 record, having reigned over the division from 2015 to 2017 (five successful title defenses) by consistently stringing noteworthy performances that contributed to the success of the discipline among women in the UFC.

“I love life, but I have to retire. Thank you for all the support I received. I will be 35 this year, I want to be a mother and a businesswoman. I trained for 20 years, I practiced this profession for more than half my life,” said the former champion, leaving her gloves in the center of the octagon.

” I am proud of myself. I trained very hard for five months for this fight, every day. That’s what I people don’t always see. She surprised me with the reverse shot, it still echoes in my head. I knew it was going to be tough and she was going to throw a lot of punches, but I didn’t expect this level to be so intense,” she added visibly shaken.

The two women started the show strong as expected. Weili did some damage by pounding her kick rival as she held the latter’s right leg off balance against the grid. The Chinese then took the fight to the ground and Jedrzejczyk continued to cash in. Both women rose to their feet briefly before returning to the mat, Weili showing off her physical strength as she took the full mounted position. Jedrzejczyk narrowly escaped but was clearly outclassed in the first round despite some good straights.

Recognized for her excellent cardio, the Pole was visibly slowed down in the second round while Weili was in splendid form. This is where Weili gave the knockout blow.

Jedrzejczyk hadn’t fought since their first face-off in 2020 at UFC 248 and she had already hinted that the end of her career was approaching before that duel.

Weili meanwhile is 1-2 (two losses to Rose Namajunas) since her split decision win over Jedrzejczyk.