Joanna Jedrzejczyk still blames weight cut for loss: I don’t care if people say it was my excuse

After holding an undefeated record for a total of 14 fights in her entire MMA career, Joanna Jedrzejczyk experienced her first loss at the hands of Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 last November. It was a loss that she was never able to properly accept.

For one, the former UFC strawweight champion has constantly pinned the blame for her loss tobad weight-cutting. Specifically, she felt her nutrition team “failed her” in terms of getting her in top shape for her fifth title defense.

Joanna was granted an immediate rematch against Namajunas, and the two women will be co-headlining the upcoming UFC 223 card on April 7th. During the pre-fight conference call, the Polish striker continued to use the weight-cutting reason and did not care if she would be criticized for repeatedly using it as an excuse.

“I would not have become UFC champion and defended my title five times if I was not respectful for my opponent,” Jedrzejczyk said (transcript via MMAjunkie). “I took her very, very serious. She was my big challenge last time, but my weight cut impacted my body.

“I don’t care if people are going to say if it was my excuse. Only me and my team know what happened that night and how I felt in the octagon.”

In Jedrzejczyk’s mind, the loss to Namajunas was more of an “accident” than a miscalculation from her end, and recapturing the title would be her ultimate form of vindication. She also feels no one else in her division is worthy of fighting for the title before she did.

“I’m the best strawweight in the world and I will prove that on April 7,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I could not stand someone fighting for the belt before me because this is my belt and I will prove that to all of you guys.”

On Wednesday, Jedrzejczyk also gave a brief update on her weight cutting situation through an Instagram post.

122.5 lbs “If you want something done right… You have to do it yourself”#joannajedrzejczyk #JJ #AndTheReal#UFC223 #inshape #onweight #fit#helathy#strong #morethenready#doityourself #reebokpl #diet

UFC 223 is slated to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It will be headlined by the 155-pound title fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.