Förra helgen bjöds vi på en titelmatch i stråvikt mellan mästarinnan Weili Zhang och Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Matchen ägde rum på UFC 248 och har hyllats som en av de bästa titelmatcherna mellan kvinnor någonsin. Nu berättar Jedrzejczyk att hon vill vila upp sig innan hon beslutar sig för vad hon ska göra härnäst.
Känner sig bättre
I sin första intervju sedan matchen ägde rum berättar Jedrzejczyk för MMAFighting att hon känner sig bättre sedan hon lämnat sjukhuset och att hon hade svårt att sova i början. När hon återvänder till Polen kommer hon att genomgå en operation men hittills är hon nöjd med hur UFC har behandlat henne.
I feel great. I’m trying to relax as much as I can with my family. Last night was the first time I slept more than three hours. Those first few nights I only slept like three hours. It’s usually like this after the fight. My friends were here, my family, we were hanging out. On Friday, I fly back home. I cannot wait to get back home and relax with my family and friends. I feel great. The swelling is going down. The UFC took really good care of me. I met with the doctor on Monday. Everything is fine. I have a small surgery on Monday in my ear in my Poland with one of the best plastic surgeons in the business. I have a cauliflower ear so they drained it at the E.R. right after the fight. It looks very bad. So that’s it. I’m waiting on the swelling to go down. It will probably take a few more days but it’s getting better everyday. After that, I will do some exams again just to make sure everything is OK but so far, so good.
Det var en jämn match
Jedrzejczyk berättar även att hon är medveten om att matchen med Zhang var väldigt jämn men att hon de kommande dagarna kommer att försöka hitta saker hon kunde ändrat och gjort bättre.
I know that the fight was very close. The fight was close every round. It was back and forth. I ask myself, I questioned myself during the fight ‘Joanna, can you do better?’ and of course I’m going to watch this fight and see things I could do better. I’m like this after every training. If the plan was good, I’m always like no, it can be better. You can fix this and that and make this a different way. Probably after this fight there’s going to be so many ideas that I can get for the next fight, for the next camp. You can always do something better. I questioned myself in the fight. Standing in front of Weili Zhang, you’re doing everything you can and you did everything you could, physical, mental, the weight cut, I did my best. That’s why I did so good on Saturday. It was not luck. I worked so hard.
Hyllar sin motståndare
Jedrzejczyk valde även att hylla sin motståndare samtidigt som hon säger att ingenting egentligen överraskade henne i matchen.
We got into a war. We went five rounds, a real championship war. She didn’t surprise me with anything. Her cardio was good. She’s a very tough bitch and I mean bitch in a good way. She’s a very tough opponent. She’s a tough character. She doesn’t give up. We Polish people are the same. We go to the end. She can handle punches. She can get punched and me the same way. I said that before the fight at the weigh-ins that it was going to be the best fight in the UFC strawweight history and it happened. Not only that, it was one of the best fights in the UFC history.
Vill vila upp sig
I nuläget siktar Jedrzejczyk på att ta sig hem och vila för att ta sin tid med att avgöra vad hon väljer att göra härnäst i karriären.
Right now, I just want to go home and relax. I don’t want to think about my next move, my next fight. I don’t want to think about the future yet. I need the time off to be myself but I’m fine. I’m strong. I keep my head up. Of course the expectations are very high but like I said, it’s not just about having the belt physically. I’m very proud of myself. My job is to be one of the best athletes and I am one of the best in the world.
Matchen mellan Jedrzejczyk och Zhang ägde rum på UFC 248 och slutade i en delad domslutsseger för Zhang efter 5 ronder. Galan ägde rum i Las Vegas, USA den 8:e mars.
