Nutritionist Says Joanna Jedrzejczyk Was ‘Probably Like 60%’ At UFC 217

After losing her title via first-round knockout to Rose Namjunas at UFC 217 last November, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has repeatedly cited a difficult weight cut for her poor performance.

And while many have criticized her for making an excuse, her nutritionist, George Lockhart, has confirmed that the cut certainly hindered her inside of the Octagon:

“When I found out exactly what she did with the cut and with the reload, she was nowhere near,” Lockhart told MMA Fighting. “It’ll tell people this and I told Joanna, 3 percent dehydration equates up to 30 percent decrease in performance. Just 3 percent. And I guarantee you cutting the [15] pounds the way she cut and the way that they reloaded her, she was way more than 3 percent. What you saw in there was a minimum 70-percent Joanna. At most. She was probably like 60 percent.”

Heading into the rematch between Namajunas and Jedrzejczyk, which will take place at this weekend’s (April 7, 2018) UFC 223, however, Lockhart said the cut has been going much smoother:

“She ain’t cutting nowhere near [16 pounds],” Lockhart said. “We’re this far out, we haven’t even cut her water. We haven’t cut anything, man. We haven’t cut her carbs yet and she’s already walking at that. I’m excited for her.

“I want this cut where it was so f*cking easy, she’s like, ‘Holy shit, I can’t believe I’m done with that. It was nothing,’” he added. “I think we’re gonna do that.”

Prior to UFC 217, Jedrzejczyk had won 14-straight fights while defending the 115-pound title five consecutive times.

Namajunas, meanwhile, has won two-straight and will be looking to make the first defense of her title this weekend in Brooklyn.

UFC 223 is set to be headlined by a lightweight title bout between 145-pound champion Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov.