Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
UFC strawweight champion, Weili Zhang, had a problem with the way former 115-pound titleholder, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, was making light of the coronavirus outbreak in China as a way to promote their upcoming title fight.
The outbreak has killed well over 100 people and infected more than 6,000.
It didn’t take long for Jedrzejczyk to kick it into reverse and try to lessen the blow, but in true Jedrzejczyk fashion, her apology did not come without its own share of subtext. Kind of like that whole “sorry/not sorry” trend that recently took social media by storm.
“Hey Weili, I’m so sorry to make you feel bad, but I’d never make fun of sick people or a virus,” Jedrzejczyk said on Instagram. “I didn’t want you to get offended. I just made fun of the funny internet meme. So, so sorry, but still, I’ll see you March 7. Don’t get emotional, okay?”
Zhang will defend her strawweight strap against Jedrzejczyk in the upcoming UFC 248 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, locked and loaded for Sat., March 7, 2020 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (see that fight card here).
“Magnum” improved to 20-1 by smashing and trashing Jessica Andrade for the 115-pound title last August. Jedrzejczyk (16-3), meanwhile, got back into the division title hunt by turning away Michelle Waterson at UFC Fight Night 161 in October.
Let’s just say their pre-fight staredown is going to be very, very interesting.