Justin Gaethje Blasts Joanna Jedrzejczyk For ‘Weak-Minded’ Excuses

After losing the title to Rose Namajunas at last November’s UFC 217, former dominant UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk began a veritable media tour explaining why a botched, drastic weight cut was to blame for her first-round knockout loss to ‘Thug.’ She detailed her experience of having to cut 15 pounds in only 14 […]

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After losing the title to Rose Namajunas at last November’s UFC 217, former dominant UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk began a veritable media tour explaining why a botched, drastic weight cut was to blame for her first-round knockout loss to ‘Thug.’

She detailed her experience of having to cut 15 pounds in only 14 hours before the fight, leading to her experiencing numbness in her legs and ultimately firing her nutritionists, Perfecting Athletes.

But that wasn’t all.

Yesterday, Jedrzejczyk doubled down on the blame game by claiming that her doctor had failed her before the fight, creating a web of finger pointing that really could not be quantified, and also one that was a moot point by now. Jedrzejczyk will meet Namajunas again in an immediate rematch at April 7’s UFC 223 from Brooklyn and will have her chance to quiet her doubters by winning back her coveted belt.

Until then, however, her detractors are going to keep doubting her blaming. One such person is UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje, who, as a friend of Namajunas, may be a bit biased but also knows the ins and outs of the fight game himself. “The Highlight” recently discussed Jedrzejczyk’s recent blaming with MMA Fighting, noting that cutting weight is simply part of a fighter’s job, making the blame fall solely on her at the end of the day.

To him, it was weak-minded to publicly bring it up:

“I don’t know her or what happened to her, so I can’t judge her for it. I think she’s weak-minded for saying it, even if it is true. It’s her own business. And no matter what, it could be true to the core and you could have proof, who’s going to [care]? Like, I’m not going to support you. Okay, whose fault was it? At the end of the day, whose fault was it? It was your fault. Do you have a scale at your house? Then you get to step on the scale every single morning, just like every single one of us do. We worry about our weight the whole camp, and I’ve never had a nutritionist help me in my entire life.

“I made weight in college eating McDonalds every day. It’s willpower. You either f*cking do it or you don’t do it. Like, the nutritionist does not cut the weight for you. And yeah, it could be detrimental to your performance, so if she did cut a tremendous amount of weight, then I’m sure that she suffered tremendously, and I am excited to see Rose fight the best Joanna whenever she doesn’t f*ck up and f*ck her weight cut up.”

Gaethje clarified his stance on the matter, adding that Jedrzejczyk knew Namajunas had cut and made weight, ultimately making whatever reason for her miss an excuse:

“Because she knows that Rose cut weight. She knows that Rose made weight. And at the end of the day, it is an excuse. Even if it’s fact, it’s still an excuse, because it was still her fault. So, I mean, as a wrestler — I’m not calling Joanna weak-minded, I’m saying that statement is weak-minded.”

Fans will see whether or not Jedrzejczyk’s insistence on passing the blame is real or not when she rematches Namajunas in just over a month. While Gaethje acknowledges her skill as one of the best in her class, he also believes Namajunas will prove her first win was no fluke because she has the former ‘Joanna Champion’ figured out:

“It’s a fight. [Jedrzejczyk] is one of the highest-level fighters in that weight class in the world,” Gaethje said. “Anybody in the top-five can beat each other on any given night in this sport. So I think she has a possibility (to win), but I don’t think — she can’t just go and change her whole (style). She can’t change the way her feet move. And Rose beat her because of the way her feet move, because she could time the way her feet move, and Rose is going to do the same thing with her feet.

“She’ll get her reaching, and then she’ll get her overreaching, then she’ll come in while she’s overreaching and capitalize. There’s no other way for it to go.”

 

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Quote: Shevchenko Doesn’t Deserve Flyweight Title Shot

Newly crowned UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano may have just won the belt, but she’s already calling shots like she’s ruled over the division for years. Montano, who holds a modest 4-2 MMA record, won the 125-pound strap at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale, defeating Roxanne Modafferi. Shortly after her big win, she was quoted […]

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Newly crowned UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano may have just won the belt, but she’s already calling shots like she’s ruled over the division for years.

Montano, who holds a modest 4-2 MMA record, won the 125-pound strap at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale, defeating Roxanne Modafferi. Shortly after her big win, she was quoted later shutting down women’s bantamweight Valentina Schevchenko’s desire to fight for the flyweight belt.

Montano expounded upon her statement regarding who is worthy of a title shot in a division that was literally just created in the UFC during an appearance on The MMA Hour:

“You want to fight the best so that you can prove to everybody else that you are the best, but right now the best is not Shevchenko at ‘25. She hasn’t fought at that weight. It’s not Paige VanZant, she hasn’t fought at that weight either. So I think it’s pretty silly and I’m a person who wants fair fights and so I just don’t think they are deserving of it right now. I would like it to be Sarge, I think she deserves another chance. She made it through six weeks of hell doing that. I was there watching, I was there partaking in that six-week period, so I know how much heart she has and how much she’s wanting this.

Montano also refused to entertain a title fight with former strawweight Paige VanZant, who along with Shevchenko has never fought at 125 pounds in the UFC before. However, both women are moving to the flyweight division, and both carry impressive UFC and MMA records in addition to a ton of attention in terms of women’s MMA.

Shevchenko lost a somewhat underwhelming decision to current women’s bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes at UFC 215, but there’s no shame in that considering how dominant Nunes has been lately. VanZant carries with her a 7-3 MMA record, and is looking to reinvent herself at 125 pounds

TUF 26 featured a cast full of 125-pound female fighters, with Montano and Sijara Eubanks making it to the finals. Eubanks was hospitalized the day before the event and Modaferri stepped in on extremely short-notice.

With a newly created division wide open for contenders, Montano won’t be able to call the shots for much longer.

Who should be Montano’s first title defense? Does she have a point about fighters coming from other weight classes being unworthy of a flyweight title shot?

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UFC 218 Post-Fight Press Conference

While it wasn’t necessarily loaded with tons of pre-fight bad blood or hype (although it most likely should have been) tonight’s (Sat., December 2, 2017) UFC 218 in the rearview mirror from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. In the main event, surging young featherweight champion Max Holloway took on decorated longtime former champion Jose […]

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While it wasn’t necessarily loaded with tons of pre-fight bad blood or hype (although it most likely should have been) tonight’s (Sat., December 2, 2017) UFC 218 in the rearview mirror from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

In the main event, surging young featherweight champion Max Holloway took on decorated longtime former champion Jose Aldo in a rematch of their UFC 212 meeting which “Blessed” won by impressive third-round TKO. The surging Hawaiian champ repeated that feat by finishing the all-time great by TKO in the third round yet again.

The co-main event saw a passing of the guard at heavyweight when longtime top contender and former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem was knocked out stiff by hyped up-and-coming force of nature Francis Ngannou.

Finally, the main card saw another hyped rising contender in Justin Gaethje meet another former champion when he locked horns with Eddie Alvarez in a fight that was many fans and media members’ pick for a potential “Fight of the Year,” praise it did not fail to live up to when “The Underground King” stopped Gaethje in the third round of a war. There’s a lot to unpack and digest after a pay-per-view (PPV) event of such impact, so join us for the event’s post-fight press conference live after the main card right here:

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Nicco Montano vs. Roxanne Modafferi Full Fight Video Highlights

In the main event of The Ultimate Fighter Season 26 Finale (TUF 26 Finale) event last night (Fri. December 1, 2017), the first-ever UFC women’s flyweight champion in history was crowned. Young Nicco Montano took on longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Roxanne Modafferi for the honor. Montano entered the fight 3-2 in her professional […]

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In the main event of The Ultimate Fighter Season 26 Finale (TUF 26 Finale) event last night (Fri. December 1, 2017), the first-ever UFC women’s flyweight champion in history was crowned. Young Nicco Montano took on longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Roxanne Modafferi for the honor.

Montano entered the fight 3-2 in her professional MMA career, and went undefeated in her TUF tenure to earn her spot in the finals against Modafferi. A title win so young in the 28-year-old’s MMA career would be a huge statement to make in the sport’s biggest promotion.

Modafferi is no stranger to the TUF lifestyle, having been on the program’s 18th season back in 2013. She was eventually eliminated from the show. Modafferi has fought for various promotions all round the world throughout her fighting career, and with a record of 21-13, her experience edge gave her a huge advantage over Montano.

The pair went to war in a back-and-fourth five round affair that saw each woman have their respective moments to shine. When it was all said and done, however, the judges believed that Montano did enough to walk away from the cage as the promotion’s first-ever female 125-pound champion.

You can check out the full fight video highlights below:

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Sean O’Malley vs. Terrion Ware Full Fight Video Highlights

In the co-main event of The Ultimate Fighter Season 26 Finale (TUF 26 Finale), bantamweights Sean O’Malley and Terrion Ware went head-to-head inside the cage. O’Malley entered the bout undefeated with a record of 8-0, and was a proven finisher with six knockouts and a submission under his belt. “Sugar” hoped to add yet another […]

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In the co-main event of The Ultimate Fighter Season 26 Finale (TUF 26 Finale), bantamweights Sean O’Malley and Terrion Ware went head-to-head inside the cage.

O’Malley entered the bout undefeated with a record of 8-0, and was a proven finisher with six knockouts and a submission under his belt. “Sugar” hoped to add yet another finish to his record to start off his UFC career with a bang.

Terrion entered his second fight under the UFC’s banner, after having a four-fight win streak snapped by Cody Stamann this past July. Terrion wanted to get his first win in the UFC to help build some momentum behind his name, and he’d certainly gain some momentum by handing O’Malley the first defeat of his career.

That would not be the case, however, as after three rounds of action the judges decided that O’Malley had decisively won the fight on the scorecards via unanimous decision.

You can check out the full fight video highlights here:

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Video: Rarely-Seen Calf Slicer Submission Kicks Off TUF 26 Finale

On a night full of amazing submission wins, UFC bantamweight contender Brett Johns attempted to top all of them when he met veteran Joe Soto on the opening bout of tonight’s (Fri., December 1, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale main card from the Park Theatre in Las Vegas. Johns was able to use some […]

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On a night full of amazing submission wins, UFC bantamweight contender Brett Johns attempted to top all of them when he met veteran Joe Soto on the opening bout of tonight’s (Fri., December 1, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale main card from the Park Theatre in Las Vegas.

Johns was able to use some exceptionally slick jiu-jitsu to lock up a rarely-seen calf slicer submission on Soto, who was left with no choice but to tap when his leg was in significant danger only 30 seconds into the bout.

It was a statement win on a card that was already full of them just one bout into the main card and could propel Johns into a much bigger bout his next time out to the Octagon. For now, check out his impressive submission win right here:

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