Joanna Jedrzejczyk who lost to Rose Namajunas for the second time at UFC 223, has still not come to grips with the loss. Joanna in an exclusive interview with local media organization Polsat Sport vented out her frustration at the scoring system. Joanna who has only lost to Rose Namajunas(twice) in her 16 fight pro MMA career did not hold back.
‘Rose’s coach and Dana White thought I won’ – Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Here’s a roughly translated transcript of her interview in her native Polish.
“Despite the fact that I lost in the eyes of the judges, I am proud of myself, because I won this fight. Many influential people from the world of MMA also think that I won.”
“Even the trainer Rose said after the verdict that this fight should be for us. Maybe it was not enough to beat the champion, but it was an even match.”
“The numbers do not lie: the numbers were higher on my side. The Commission in New York State is very young, they are also just learning to judge. There is definitely disgust, but I’m proud of myself. I did not want to prove anything to people, just myself, “she said.
Trevor Wittman who is the head coach of Rose ‘Thug’ Namajunas was quick to deny this claim.
https://twitter.com/TrevorWittman/status/986018284595175424
Dana White also had this to say at the post fight press conference
“Rose looked incredible. If you look at how much she has grown since the Ultimate Fighter, she looked amazing tonight,” White said during the post fight presser “Joanna did too. It was a great fight. I had it 2-2 going into the last round.”
All three judges scored the last round for Rose, who ended up on top with a minute to go. In fact 18 of 22 media analysts scored the fight for Rose. Here’s a list compiled by mmadecisions.com.
Possible Move Up
After suffering back to back losses to the champion, what holds next for the once invincible ‘Joanna Champion’ is unknown. However, she is holding her head up high and looking at bigger things. Here is what she had to say about her immediate future.
“I would definitely like to fight for the belt. We’ll see if the UFC will agree to the trilogy right away, or whether I will have to fight one fight and only then will I get a chance.
“With age, weight cutting has a big impact, although everything went well on the last camp. I want to fight in the straw category. My goal is to be a champion in this weight, but I can not cheat on my body. Perhaps I will try to fight in a higher weight category”
A trilogy fight seems unlikely but Joanna Jedrzejczyk could possibly step up to flyweight and challenge TUF 26 winner and inaugural UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano. It is incidental that Joanna became the strawweight champion by dismantling the TUF 20 winner and inaugural champion Carla Esparza.
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