On May 10, the Octagon returned to Montreal where two champion vs champion matchups may have been set up for the future.
The main event of UFC 315 saw Jack Della Maddalena defeat Belal Muhammad to become the new welterweight champion.
This result also carried implications for the lightweight division now that Islam Makhachev is free to move up and challenge for a second belt in the near future.
In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defeated Manon Fiorot to kickstart her second reign as the flyweight champion with another impressive victory.
Fans have wanted to see ‘Bullet’ face the titleholder at the weight below for some time but it now looks to be on the cards after Zhang Weili called out Shevchenko.
Michael Bisping jokes that he’ll sit down with Zhang Weili in Shanghai to make the fight happen
Both Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili have viable contenders in their respective divisions that they could defend their titles against.
Natalia Silva got a big win over Alexa Grasso at flyweight this past weekend while Virna Jandiroba secured her status as the next in line at 155 pounds by beating Yan Xiaonan last month.
Despite this, the fight that the fans want to see is the super fight and there might not be a better time for it to happen than right now.
Shevchenko wants to give her fans the opportunity to vote on who her next opponent is but UFC legend Michael Bisping is hoping to make the decision for her.
He joked on TNT Sports’ UFC 315 Review Show that he doesn’t mind taking a diversion during his commentary duties to try and put the two champions together.
“I’ll be in Shanghai later this year. I’ll be commentating down there, I’ll swing by Zhang Weili’s house, I’ll sit down, we’ll have a cup of tea, we’ll have a little chat, we’ll get the fight booked!
“To put her against the Chinese champion of the world, Zhang Weili, one of the biggest stars in the sport, super fight, come on! Come on, we all want to see it.”
Both Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili can define their legacies in a super fight
Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili are two of the best female fighters that we have ever seen step inside the Octagon.
If there’s one negative that stands out on both of their records it’s that for how dominant they have been as champions, they’ve suffered two losses to the best opponent that they faced.
Zhang was beaten by Rose Namajunas in back-to-back fights while Shevchenko suffered two close defeats to Amanda Nunes at bantamweight.
Facing each other would give both women, who are at the top on the female two pound-for-pound list, another opportunity to secure a victory over one of the elite competitors of their era.