Weili Zhang issued a classy response to Joanna Jedrzejcyzk, who made fun of the deadly coronavirus ahead of their title showdown.
Zhang will put her strawweight championship on the line against the Polish fighter as they co-headline the UFC 248 fight card on March.
Jedrzejcyzk is regarded as the greatest strawweight queen, having defended the title for five straight times during her reign, while Zhang just recently won the gold last August in her home country in China.
Things started to heat up between the strawweight rivals after Jedrzejcyzk posted a photo of her wearing a gas mask alongside the first Chinese champ in her Instagram story.
The fan-made image drew the ire of MMA fans as they called out the former champion for her insensitive post.
Check out the photo below:
Shame on you @joannamma! You just lost a fan with this BS pic.twitter.com/IFZTz6mS61
— ZombieProphet (@GIFsZP) January 28, 2020
‘I’ll See You Soon’
China is currently battling an outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, with 170 people are confirmed dead while 7700 cases have been recorded worldwide, per The New York Times.
This is why Jedrzejcyzk’s recent coronavirus jab did not sit well with the defending strawweight queen.
“To make fun of tragedy is a true sign of ones character,” Zhang told her upcoming opponent.
“People are dying, someones father, someones mother, someones child. Say what you want about me if it makes you feel stronger but do not joke about what’s happening here.”
“I wish you good health until March 7th. I will see you soon,” she ended.
Jedrzejcyzk, who is coming off an impressive win over Michelle Waterson, has taken to her Instagram story to apologize to Zhang.
“Hey champ, hey Weili. So sorry to make you feel bad, but I would never make fun of sick people of illness or virus.”
“I didn’t want you to get offended, but I just made fun of the funny internet meme. So, so sorry, but still, I will see you on March 7th.”
Not Affected
Meanwhile, Zhang’s camp is confident that the Chinese’ upcoming title-defence will not be affected amid fears of the virus spreading worldwide.
“Weili and her camp have not been affected at all and have always kept a prett tight circle,” Zhang’s manager, Brian Butler said when speaking to MMA Fighting.
“She is having the best camp of his career so far.”
Zhang became the first ever Chinese and East Asian champion after knocking out Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzen.
She remains undefeated in the UFC , winning all four bouts since making his debut in 2018.
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejcyzk)