Joanna Jedrzejczyk Still 'Joanna from the Hood'
Joanna Jedrzejczyk Still 'Joanna from the Hood'
By Jim EdwardsWith just two days to go before they meet in the Octagon for the second time, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha both took part in open wo
By Jim Edwards
With just two days to go before they meet in the Octagon for the second time, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha both took part in open workout sessions on the floor of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Both fighters were greeted with generous applause, and they put on similar workouts that showcased striking and grappling skills with their training partners and coaches.
Jedrzejczyk was first, and after exhibiting her lightning-fast hands and flashy headkicks, she spoke to the press about her coaching role on "The Ultimate Fighter" (TUF) and her fight with Gadelha on Friday night.
“I said what I said and I did what I did," Jedrzejczyk said about her experience on TUF 23. "But the thing is that, in our regular life, we accept some people and some of the people, we don’t accept. (Claudia) is a person who I don’t accept, and that’s all. I would like to do this (be a coach on TUF) one more time, even though it showed me as a bully because the most important thing was being a coach, and a friend for all of my fighters. I’m still receiving messages from my fighters. They said I changed some of them, and I’m happy.
"The production couldn’t fit all the stories (in the show). I know the stories, and I can tell you honestly there’s no time to show everything that happened there. There were so many good stories, good moments.”
The current UFC strawweight champion then focused her attention on Gadelha and surprisingly, Jedrzejczyk was full of praise for her Brazilian challenger.
“I know that she wants my belt, my life, my dreams, my to take my goals away from me. I cannot let her do this, and that’s why I was acting like this," Jedrzejczyk said. “The first fight was close but I have more experience now and I’ll be stronger.
"I do have a lot of respect for her as a fighter, she has the number one rank in the strawweight division and has for a long time. I'm going to respect her and her skills, but I'm going to prove to her, her coaches, her teammates and everyone that there is only one real strawweight champion."
While the champion's sights are focused on Gadelha and Friday night, Jedrzejczyk confirmed she would be interested in adding another title belt to her collection if the opportunity arose.
"Myself, I still think I'm little Joanna from the hood, from a small town in Poland and I'm still trying to achieve all of my goals and my dream," Jedrzejczyk said. "For me, this is all about being the best and setting myself new challenges every day.
"I want to be the best every day and I want to stay undefeated and maybe I will one day hold two belts. Maybe that could happen next year--I don't know. I think we need that division (125lbs) and I heard them talking about it a long time ago. It was good to see it happen at a catchweight (UFC Ottawa), Letourneau and Calderwood need to fight in a 125lbs division.
"It's a good idea to open this division, you will see fighters come down from 135lbs and some strawweights come up from 115l," she said. "You saw Jo Jo (Calderwood) she fought really good so I think it's a good idea and it's something to think about."
With just two days to go before they meet in the Octagon for the second time, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha both took part in open workout sessions on the floor of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Both fighters were greeted with generous applause, and they put on similar workouts that showcased striking and grappling skills with their training partners and coaches.
Jedrzejczyk was first, and after exhibiting her lightning-fast hands and flashy headkicks, she spoke to the press about her coaching role on "The Ultimate Fighter" (TUF) and her fight with Gadelha on Friday night.
“I said what I said and I did what I did," Jedrzejczyk said about her experience on TUF 23. "But the thing is that, in our regular life, we accept some people and some of the people, we don’t accept. (Claudia) is a person who I don’t accept, and that’s all. I would like to do this (be a coach on TUF) one more time, even though it showed me as a bully because the most important thing was being a coach, and a friend for all of my fighters. I’m still receiving messages from my fighters. They said I changed some of them, and I’m happy.
"The production couldn’t fit all the stories (in the show). I know the stories, and I can tell you honestly there’s no time to show everything that happened there. There were so many good stories, good moments.”
The current UFC strawweight champion then focused her attention on Gadelha and surprisingly, Jedrzejczyk was full of praise for her Brazilian challenger.
“I know that she wants my belt, my life, my dreams, my to take my goals away from me. I cannot let her do this, and that’s why I was acting like this," Jedrzejczyk said. “The first fight was close but I have more experience now and I’ll be stronger.
"I do have a lot of respect for her as a fighter, she has the number one rank in the strawweight division and has for a long time. I'm going to respect her and her skills, but I'm going to prove to her, her coaches, her teammates and everyone that there is only one real strawweight champion."
While the champion's sights are focused on Gadelha and Friday night, Jedrzejczyk confirmed she would be interested in adding another title belt to her collection if the opportunity arose.
"Myself, I still think I'm little Joanna from the hood, from a small town in Poland and I'm still trying to achieve all of my goals and my dream," Jedrzejczyk said. "For me, this is all about being the best and setting myself new challenges every day.
"I want to be the best every day and I want to stay undefeated and maybe I will one day hold two belts. Maybe that could happen next year--I don't know. I think we need that division (125lbs) and I heard them talking about it a long time ago. It was good to see it happen at a catchweight (UFC Ottawa), Letourneau and Calderwood need to fight in a 125lbs division.
"It's a good idea to open this division, you will see fighters come down from 135lbs and some strawweights come up from 115l," she said. "You saw Jo Jo (Calderwood) she fought really good so I think it's a good idea and it's something to think about."