Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, is struggling to make weight for her upcoming UFC Fight Night 161 main event against fellow 115-pound contender, Michelle Waterson, this weekend on ESPN+.
In fact, Jedrzejczyk informed the promotion as early as last week that she would be unable to make her mark, but the “Karate Hottie” would not agree to a catch weight and the list of replacement fighters was nothing to celebrate, so the show must go on.
Just keep your trap shut about the ex-champ’s weight.
“There are always some troubles with the weight cut, there’s always some risk,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I know people are smart and think it’s that easy to, ‘Hey, go run for 10 hours or don’t eat,’ but it’s not like this, you know? So people who are not important who don’t know a lot about it should just stay quiet and just wait until the end, the results.”
The early weigh-ins take place in less than 24 hours.
Jedrzejczyk has struggled to make weight in the past, to the point where she left herself in “critical condition.” It wasn’t her fault, mind you, and contributed to her championship loss to Rose Namajunas back in late 2017 (more on those claims here).
It’s been a tough couple of years for Jedrzejczyk, 32, who dropped three of her last four, including her flyweight title fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 231 last December. Based on her recent struggles on the scale, a return to 125 pounds may be in order.