UFC: Joanna Jedrzejczyk thinking of life after fighting, but wants ‘even better’ Zhang Weili rematch first
- ‘I took lots of damage – every next fight is going to be a big risk, and I want to be a mother in the future,’ says former champ
- Jedrzejczyk feels she has doesn’t have to prove that she’s the next challenger for Zhang’s strawweight title
Joanna Jedrzejczyk came very close to wresting the strawweight title from the waist of Zhang Weili at UFC 248 – about as close as one could. Yet after 25 minutes of frenetic violence that left both women nearly unrecognisable, the judges awarded the split decision win, and thereby the title, to Zhang.
It was a devastating outcome for Jedrzejczyk, who ruled over the strawweight division from 2015-2017, but she recognised it was beyond her control.
“You know, you can’t do s***,” Jedrzejczyk told the Post from her home in Poland, a little over a month after the fight in Vegas.
“There are people saying she won, there are people saying I won, but at the end I lost that fight,” she added. “It’s heartbreaking, but I’m proud of myself because I did my best.”
The fight took an immense physical toll on both women, and the pair were immediately carted off to a local hospital. Jedrzejczyk, who suffered significant swelling on her forehead, spent several hours in the care of doctors. It was a far cry from the after-party she’d planned to enjoy with the legion of family and friends that had flown in from Poland to support her.