Through her flawless victory at UFC 211, Joanna Jedrzejczyk stayed as tough as iron, breaking down opponent Jessica Andrade over five rounds. But afterwards, the dominant women’s strawweight champ broke down in tears during the post-fight press conference. What put her over the edge? A question from MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, who asked her about her wrestling coach Kami Barzini leaving American Top Team.
Joanna didn’t just shed a few tears. She ended up getting up and leaving the press conference, leaving a trail of surprised media behind her. But today she got back together with Helwani on his MMA Hour podcast and explained how much Barzini meant to her.
“It’s amazing how he changed my wrestling, how he changed my takedown defense,” Jedrzejczyk said. “You can see that in my last fight. That’s the thing. I’d like to work with him. And he’s such a good person. He’s a master of wrestling — he’s my master. But he’s like such a good spirit. He’s like a doctor. Before this fight, he said I’m like a lion. I felt like a lion.”
“It’s not just about the work,” she continued. “[ATT] really takes care of me. They’re with me all the time. They ask me how I feel after the training, before the training. We hang out together … Good people connect with good people and this is what happened with us. Maybe I’m the baddest chick on the planet, maybe I’m the baddest woman in the Octagon, but I’m definitely emotional. I believe in people so badly and I love when people treat me the same way. It’s not just about the money.”
You can’t argue against the results Jedrzejczyk and Andrade have gotten in the Octagon. At UFC 211 Andrade never came close to taking Joanna down across 25 minutes of fighting. The good news is it sounds like the incident was a catalyst towards making sure teacher and student stayed tight. After her emotional reaction at the press conference, she went and had a heart to heart with Barzini. It sounds like the two will continue to work together even after he leaves ATT.