Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Back in July 2017, then-strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk “begged” UFC President Dana White to let her fight then-bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko on just a few hours notice, after “Bullet” was left stranded by the ailing Amanda Nunes ahead of UFC 213.
That’s why I’m confused as to why Jedrzejczyk claims a six-week camp was insufficient to fight Shevchenko when they went to war for the flyweight strap at UFC 231 roughly one year back, a bout that ended in a decisive five-round decision loss.
“That’s the plan for the future,” Jedrzejczyk said about moving back up to flyweight (via MMA News). “Before my fight with Valentina Shevchenko, I didn’t have enough time to prepare for this fight for a different division, you know? I had only six weeks to prepare and face one of the greatest.”
After defeating Jedrzejczyk, the 31 year-old “Bullet” (18-3) went on to brutalize Jessica Eye before defending her strap against Liz Carmouche back in August. Her next assignment comes in the form of Kaitlyn Chookagian at UFC 247 in February.
As for Jedrzejczyk (16-3), she rebounded from her Shevchenko loss by dominating Michelle Waterson at UFC Fight Night 161 last October. Next up is her strawweight title fight against current champion Weili Zhang at UFC 248 next March.