It was a battle of power, as China’s Zhang Weili took on Polish competitor Joanna Jedrzejczyk in what is being called one of the greatest fights in women’s MMA history. People had high expectations for this match — and their expectations were met. On March 7, 2020, Zhang Weili beat Jedrzejczyk in Las Vegas, successfully defending (蝉联) her strawweight UFC title (草量级终极格斗赛冠军).
Both women are known as top fighters. Zhang, 30, won China’s first and only UFC belt last year in Shenzhen. Jedrzejczyk, 32, is a former five-time defending champion in the 115-pound group.
But this year’s novel coronavirus outbreak (新冠疫情爆发) made Zhang’s training harder than usual. She had to travel from Beijing to Thailand and then to Abu Dhabi before arriving in Las Vegas, about a week later than planned. Worse still, before the match, Zhang was annoyed by social media post by Jedrzejczyk. In a picture, Jedrzejczyk wears a gas mask (防毒面具) standing behind Zhang, making fun of the outbreak. The picture caused criticism and later disappeared. Zhang said she was fired up to make Jedrzejczyk pay for the tasteless joke in the competition.
Zhang’s considerable punching power (重拳) gave her the early advantage as the pair traded in the first and second rounds. However, as a former five-time defending champion, Jedrzejczyk used her greater experience and changed her style, catching Zhang with huge kicks to the face and body to win Round Three. Going into the championship rounds, despite looking the more tired, Zhang again caught her competitor with well-timed counter punches, winning her first title defence. In the end, Zhang scored a narrow win over Jedrzejezyk in the fight. Both ended up in the hospital because of the fight.
“All fighters deserve respect from one another in the competition, ” said Zhang following her victory. “Now the situation is not just affecting China but the whole world. I hope everybody in the world can stand together to fight the virus with a united effort.” she said.
【小题1】 How many times has Zhang Weili won the UFC belt?| A．Once. |
| B．Twice. |
| C．Three times. |
| D．Five time. |
| A．It made her training harder than usual. |
| B．She was late for the match. |
| C．She was upset because of the outbreak. |
| D． The match was put off due to the outbreak. |
| A．She ignored the Twitter post. |
| B．She made fun of her as well. |
| C．She was angry about it. |
| D．She hit Joanna after winning the match. |
| A．批评 |
| B．赞赏 |
| C．讽刺 |
| D．漠视 |
| A．trash talk is helpful |
| B．people don’t have to respect each other |
| C．we should protect ourselves first |
| D．everybody should unite and fight together |
