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Joanna Jedrzejczyk recently spoke about the physical and mental ‘sacrifices’ fighters take to compete in MMA.
Former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk recently spoke with Peter Carroll and Niall McGrath on MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast. With them the Polish fighter spoke about the toll fighting has taken on her.
“There’s always a [bad] side to your job or your [profession]. I hate it, man, I hate it and I want to take care of my health. Being an athlete, being in this sport, it changes your body; it changes your head, your mind; how you look and how you walk. It cost me a lot of sacrifices, changes in my body and I’m still a woman, I want to be attractive. And I want to be a mother in the future so I always want to take care of my health. In the UFC you have everything – good healthcare and they’re always taking good care of us.”
Jedrzejczyk spoke about the wear and tear fighters experience on their bodies weeks after her epic title fight with current UFC champion Weili Zhang. In the co-main event of UFC 248 the Jedrzejczyk and Zhang fighters traded blows for five rounds leading to a split decision victory for Chinese fighter.
The fight made headlines for its entertainment value. However, the contest was also notable for the damage inflicted on Jedrzejczyk over the course of the fight.
Throughout the later rounds a massive hematoma emerged on Jedrzejczyk’s forehead. By the end of the fight it had swelled to a seldom seen in mixed martial arts (or anywhere else). The swelling would subside after a few days, leaving behind an extreme amount of bruising.
On the Eurobash podcast Jedrzejczyk shared more information on her recovery.
“There are still a few bruises, but I was laughing about the memes after my fight. Even though I cut myself off from social media I was still laughing, but I’m telling you guys from the next day, the swelling in my forehead went down and I couldn’t see out my left eye for two days. I had a vision of only five percent in my left eye – it was pretty rough. It is what it is, the swelling went down.”
Jedrzejczyk also shared that she had both an X-ray and an ultrasound after the fight and that no serious injuries were detected. “Everything is good with my head,” she said. “I’m good!”