Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk had a really bad night at the UFC 217 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last month in New York City.
But losing your title is not nearly as bad as losing your life.
Turns out Jedrzejczyk entered her Rose Namajunas title fight after a torturous weight cut, one that left her unable to perform to the best of her ability. That’s according to a conversation she had with Polish outlet Low Kings (via Bartek Stachura):
The same conversation where she revealed her disassociation with weigh-cutting outfit “Perfecting Athletes,” who promise to help fighters “make weight and feel great.” Clearly that didn’t happen ahead of UFC 217.
From Jedrzejczyk:
“People I worked with led me to critical condition. Now I’m just happy that I’m alive. I was screaming. It didn’t matter it was very late. The pain of putting my body back again in hot water was unimaginable. But I wanted to do it for everybody who wanted to see my fight. It’s a miracle I made weight. I was cutting weight for 14 hours. It was torture. I trusted them. Unfortunately they failed and this mistake is unforgivable. I forgive them as a human because that’s who I am and probably our relationship will remain but I can’t cooperate with such people any more.”
Jedrzejczyk (14-1) lost to Namajunas by way of first-round knockout.
In the wake of her stunning upset, the Polish puncher continued to put the blame on herself; meaning, her loss was more about her missteps than the striking prowess of her strawweight opponent.
That said, these points are also worth noting:
March 2017 https://t.co/wZV0ZXkRxo
— Bartek Stachura (@Lowkingpl) December 8, 2017
So Joanna officially no longer cooperates with Perfecting Athletes. A few months after Ray Borg did the same and was criticized by her. She was always praising them, in every single interview. She will no longer live in their house. Will rent sth near ATT. https://t.co/6x7Iyvfzyo
— Bartek Stachura (@Lowkingpl) December 8, 2017
Not saying it’s wrong or anything because she knows well what’s best for her but in around 2 years span JJ:
– left her gym and moved to ATT,
– left SuckerPunch, joined Paradigm, left Paradigm,
– left her Polish nutritionist, joined Perfecting Athletes, left Perfecting Athletes.— Bartek Stachura (@Lowkingpl) December 8, 2017
Jedrzejczyk, 30, is expected to get an immediate rematch, based on these comments from promotion president Dana White; however, nothing is official at this time and we’re unlikely to get an announcement until early 2018.
Stay tuned.