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Joanna Jedrzejczyk says she turned down a fight with Weili Zhang three times before the new champ won the title at UFC Shenzhen.
Former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk says she turned down several fights with Weili Zhang before the Chinese breakout star won the UFC strawweight title.
Zhang went on to get a title shot against Jessica Andrade after winning her first three UFC fights. She stopped the Brazilian in just 42-seconds last month to become the new title holder at 115 lbs.
Speaking recently on the Eurobash podcast, Jedrzejczyk said she predicted an early stoppage between Andrade and Zhang, and favoured the newly crowned champ in the fight.
“The day before this fight happened between [Jessica] Andrade and [Weili] Zhang, I said that this fight was going to end in the first round and I put my money on Zhang. (Transcription via MMA Fighting)
“She’s good,” Jedrzejczyk said of Whang. “But the truth is they offered me Weili Zhang three times before that fight and the thing is, she needed me. Okay, she’s the champ now so it might look like she never needed me to become someone. Sometimes people are like, ‘Do you know who she is now?’ Of course I know who she is, but I fight in the Octagon, you know? I’m a professional athlete, I’m a businesswoman and I know who I am. I don’t do fights on Twitter.”
Jedrzejczyk will face Michelle Waterson in the main event of UFC Tampa in October, the winner of that fight could be next in line to face Zhang for the title. The former strawweight champion, Jedrzejczyk hasn’t fought in almost a year, losing a unanimous decision to Valentina Shevchenko in December of 2018.
“If [others fighters] call me out, I like it because I know I am in a strong position. Why are they calling me out? Because they know I can bring them to a different level. Maybe they can be lucky and win against former UFC champion, a dominant champion, which I was. [That would allow them to] get better money, get better exposure. Of course, they offered me Weili Zhang, but my goal was to fight for the belt. I took my spot, now I’m fighting Waterson and then I will go for the belt. Slowly, step-by-step, I will reach my goals and my dreams.”