Joanna Jedrzejczyk Explains Why She Turned Down Weili Zhang Three Times Before Title Win
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is ready to return to the Octagon at UFC Tampa next month (Sat. October 12, 2019) against Michelle Waterson.
With a victory, Jedrzejczyk and her team claim she has been promised a title opportunity. That means a matchup against newly-crowned champion Weili Zhang, who took out Jessica Andrade swiftly to win the title. Speaking on the Eurobash podcast (H/T MMA Fighting), Jedrzejczyk revealed she had actually been offered a fight with Zhang three times before.
“She’s good, but the truth is they offered me Weili Zhang three times before that fight and the thing is, she needed me. Okay, she’s the champ now so it might look like she never needed me to become someone. Sometimes people are like, ‘Do you know who she is now?’ Of course I know who she is, but I fight in the Octagon, you know? I’m a professional athlete, I’m a businesswoman and I know who I am.
“I don’t do fights on Twitter. If [others fighters] call me out, I like it because I know I am in a strong position. Why are they calling me out? Because they know I can bring them to a different level. Maybe they can be lucky and win against former UFC champion, a dominant champion, which I was. [That would allow them to] get better money, get better exposure. Of course, they offered me Weili Zhang, but my goal was to fight for the belt. I took my spot, now I’m fighting Waterson and then I will go for the belt.
“Slowly, step-by-step, I will reach my goals and my dreams,” Jedrzejczyk said. “The thing is, there is a new UFC Performance Institute in China, so they probably needed a good fight and they just gave the title fight to this Chinese chick. She won, good for her; I’m very happy for her. I think she’s very strong, she’s very dynamic and she’s a good puncher. I hope she’s going to be a good champ for the UFC and the division before I face her.”
Jedrzejczyk has dropped three of her last four fights inside the UFC’s Octagon. In her last outing, Jedrzejczyk was bested by former Muay Thai foe Valentina Shevchenko for the vacant UFC women’s flyweight championship. Now, she drops back down to 115 pounds, where she’ll take on Waterson, hoping to solidify herself as the next challenger for the title.
What do you think about Jedrzejczyk having turned down a fight with Zhang in the past?
