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Joanna Jedrzejczyk explains her reason behind three losses she incurred in 2017 and 2018.

In November 2017, then strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk tasted her first career defeat at the hands of Rose Namajunas. After dropping the title she held for two years, she failed to reclaim it in their rematch five months later.

Jedrzejczyk went up ten pounds to challenge flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, where she again lost via decision. She did bounce back last October with a win against Michelle Waterson in her return to strawweight, looking like her old self.

The 32-year-old Polish striker attributed those three losses to a tumultuous time in her personal life at the time.

“People in Poland know more, but people in the states and worldwide, they don’t know much about my private life,” Jedrzejczyk said in a recent episode of UFC Unfiltered (transcript by MMA Fighting). “The last two years were pretty difficult for me. It was a rough time, and I feel like 2019 is a special year, so I can’t wait for 2020.”

Jedrzejczyk went on the explain that it was her break-up with her fiancé that played a major role in her losses.

“I broke up with my fiancé, and we broke up before my first fight with Rose Namajunas, and this terrible weight cut happened, and I broke up again,” she explained. “This year I found out that my [previous Polish] manager messed up my money, and then I found out that my fiance was cheating on me.

“That girl called me; I think that she was afraid that I was going to beat her up so badly, but I was like, ‘No, I’m kidding.’ I just want to show to people and tell people that there’s always something going on in our lives. It doesn’t matter who you are. If your private life is not going in the right direction, you’re not going to be successful in the sport, or in the business.”

Now back on the winning track, Jedrzejczyk has nothing but an optimistic outlook moving forward in 2020.

“This year was amazing, and I cannot wait for that coming 2020. Now I feel free,” she said. “I feel me, I feel Joanna again. I’m more smart, I’m more experienced. Maybe shitty things happened in my life, but it has to happen somehow. I’m happy.

“I know what life is about now. When I turned 30, I thought I knew a lot and I had experienced a lot. I was broken in my life, so dedicated to the sport, losing my mind into the sport, working so hard. But that’s the difference – I’m happy now.”

Jedrzejczyk will try to reclaim the UFC strawweight title when she faces Weili Zhang at UFC 248 on March 7 in Las Vegas.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A recent YouTube video from actor and martial artist Michael Jai White has resulted in a call out from ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.

Don’t disrespect the spirit of Kimbo Slice, or you’re going to hear from Mike Perry. That’s the lesson to learn from this latest social media battle that crosses over from Hollywood martial arts to mixed martial arts. It all stems from what “Platinum” considers a humblebrag of a video where White implies the backyard brawler was too impatient and ‘dominated’ to accept training advice from him.

”I told Kimbo I’d teach him some pointers, the same way I’ve done with a lot of champions in the past,” White says in the video. “So me and my training partner Armani, who played Big Lamonte in the movie, agreed to train him. But Kimbo became a little too … frustrated with the process. He was still a little freaked out and felt dominated, and sometimes that messes with a fighter’s psyche.”

”For me, I always loved to learn something new, even if that meant getting my ass kicked cuz it made me better,” he continued. “I wasn’t there to kick anybody’s ass. I was there to share. But some fighters are just too uncomfortable with new things, even if it’s proven to work. Believe me, I’ve run into a lot of this in the past. I don’t get it.”

Here’s what Perry had to say about that:

“An actor recently was saying how he was trying to teach kimbo something too difficult for kimbo to grasp,” Perry wrote. “I think you actors better stay in the movies. 1 knee make your nose look like special effects.”

“I just feel like #KimboSlice would beat the f**k outta @MichaelJaiWhite and his tone in the video really bothered me,” Perry added in another tweet. He should fight me backyard bare knuckle because I would like to learn this ‘prison movie technique’ he was talking about #PPV #Or #For #Free.”

It does sound strange that Kimbo Slice — a man who willingly put himself through six weeks of being dominated on The Ultimate Fighter shortly after Blood and Bone was filmed — would have an issue getting taught anything so long as it’s being taught properly. Sticking a camera in his face and spending five minutes repeating “See, I’m not telegraphing” over and over? May not be best approach. Add this in with the general taboo MMA fighters have about discussing training and we’re not surprised someone has come out swinging against White’s video.

Alas, while some may believe we’re in the age of UFC freakshow fights, things haven’t gotten freaky enough that you can expect a “Platinum” Perry vs. Michael Jai White fight. If the promotion wasn’t able to make Joe Rogan vs. Welsey Snipes happen, what are the chances of this?

But hey … Perry is currently 2-5 over his last 7. If he doesn’t turn things around, maybe this is a fight than can happen outside the UFC. At least both of them would get paid properly in that case.

Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

Darren Till is not confident that Donald Cerrone can thrive under the pressures of fighting MMA megastar Conor McGregor.

Darren Till concedes that Donald Cerrone has done just about everything in MMA, but he predicts a headlining fight against Conor McGregor may be “too much” pressure for ‘Cowboy’.

Till took to Twitter on Friday and shared his analysis of the UFC 246 main event.

“I’ve got Conor first-round TKO, feel like the occasion may just be too much for Cowboy,” Till wrote. “But that’s just my opinion, Cowboy’s been around a lot longer than me and knows a hell of a lot more.”

“I cannot f—king wait for Conor x Cowboy,” the top-ranked middleweight exclaimed. “Feels like the old Conor is back. Both are right up for this. ‘Cowboy’’s camp have more to be concerned with than just Conor’s left hand.”

UFC 246 takes place at T-Mobile arena on Jan. 18. Other key fights include Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington and Anthony Pettis vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira.