Joanna Jedrzejczyk Reveals How Relationship Issues Affected Octagon Performance
Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is preparing to challenge for the 115-pound title once again.
Coming off a victory over Michelle Waterson in Tampa, Jedrzejczyk will now attempt to get back on top of the UFC strawweight mountain by toppling newly-crowned Chinese champion Weili Zhang. Jedrzejczyk looked phenomenal against Waterson, bouncing back from a failed flyweight title bid against Valentina Shevchenko.
Speaking to the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast, Jedrzejczyk revealed that her return to form could be due to the fact that she’s single again after dealing with turmoil in her previous relationship. (H/T MMA Fighting)
“Life of a single [woman],” Jedrzejczyk said. “People in Poland know more, but people in the states and worldwide, they don’t know much about my private life. The last two years were pretty difficult for me. It was a rough time, and I feel like 2019 is a special year, so I can’t wait for 2020.”
Jedrzejczyk revealed that her ex-fiance cheated on her, and the pair split shortly before her fight with Rose Namajunas. This led to a string of issues that Jedrzejczyk had to deal with over the next several months.
“I broke up with my fiance, and we broke up before my first fight with Rose Namajunas, and this terrible weight cut happened, and I broke up again,” Jedrzejczyk said. “This year I found out that my [previous Polish] manager messed up my money, and then I found out that my fiance was cheating on me.
“That girl called me; I think that she was afraid that I was going to beat her up so badly, but I was like, ‘No, I’m kidding.’ I just want to show to people and tell people that there’s always something going on in our lives. It doesn’t matter who you are. If your private life is not going in the right direction, you’re not going to be successful in the sport, or in the business.”
Now, Jedrzejczyk will face off against Zhang at UFC 248 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 7.
What do you think about Jedrzejczyk’s personal issues affecting her Octagon performance?
