Joanna Jedrzejczyk is remaining defiant despite worrying rumors that her main event fight with Michelle Waterson this weekend at UFC Fight Night 161 might be in jeopardy due to weight cutting difficulties.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported yesterday that Jedrzejczyk had told the UFC last week that she wouldn’t be able to get down to 116lbs for the fight, but a further spanner was thrown in the works when her opponent refused to compete at a catchweight with her.
Possibilities from that point included finding a new opponent for Jedrzejczyk or scrapping the fight altogether, but instead it seems that the former champion is instead continuing to battle to make weight and was in a fiery mood yesterday when she was asked about the situation by the media.
“Did I miss something?” Jedrzejczyk asked one reporter. “Did I miss today? Did I miss tomorrow? No, Friday (is the weigh-in). So please, give me the time and space to make weight, too easy to make weight and fight Michelle Waterson on Saturday.”
Jedrzejczyk has found it difficult to make the cut down to strawweight in the past, but at 32-years-old and having fought a division higher at flyweight may also now be making it more of an ordeal than ever before.
“There are always some troubles with the weight cut even come, there’s always some risk, we’re definitely, the fighter, your body just shut down, make the weight,” Jedrzejczyk continued. “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 weight until the end, the results.”
As things stand the fight remains in the headline spot on the card, but with the most gruelling part of her weight cut still ahead of her, it remains to be seen if it will go ahead or not.
