Gracious in defeat.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk has issued her first statement since losing to Weili Zhang in a fight for the ages on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The strawweight pair stole the show at UFC 248 as they delivered an epic five-round contest in the co-main event fight, with a world title on the line.
Zhang became the first Chinese and East champion in the UFC history last year after defeating Jessica Andrade while Jedrzejczyk is regarded as the best strawweight fighter ever as she lorded over the division from 2015 to 2017.
The Polish challenger gave her all in an attempt to reclaim her throne, fighting in the championship rounds with a gruesome forehead injury, but it wasn’t enough to dethrone the defending champion.
After a five-round all-out war, which will go down as one of the best fights ever in MMA history, Jedrzejczyk suffered his first loss at 115 pounds since returning to the weight class in October 2019 as only one judge scored 48-47 in her favour while the remaining two had it 48-47 for Zhang.
Mutual Respect
Following the instant classic, the former strawweight champ accepted the judges’ decision and congratulated Zhang for retaining her title.
Jedrzejczyk also admitted she felt Zhang’s power when she drilled her right hand at the end of second round that resulted to a massive hematoma.
“She did a great job. I felt her punches,” Jedrzejczyk said in the post fight interview (per ESPN).
“The swelling was bothering me. I felt it more and more, but we’re good. Congrats champ. I’m very happy we gave a good fight.”
The 32-year old fighter falls to 10-4 in her UFC career, following the loss, and remains winless in four title fights, which includes losses to Valentina Shevchenko and Rose Namajunas (twice).
Here are the full results of the UFC 248 fight card (via MMA Fighting):
Main Card
Israel Adesanya def. Yoel Romero via unanimous decision – for the UFC middleweight championship
Weii Zhang def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk via split decision – for the UFC strawweight championship
Beneil Dariush def. Drakkar Klose via second-round KO (1:00)
Neil Magny def. Li Jingliang via unanimous decision
Alex Oliveira def. Max Griffin via split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
Undercard
Sean O’Malley def. Jose Quinonez via TKO (strikes) (R1, 2:02)
Mark Madsen def. Austin Hubbard via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Rodolfo Vieira def. Saparbek Safarov via sub (arm-triangle choke) (R1, 2:58)
Gerald Meerschaert def. Deron Winn via submission (rear-naked choke) (R3, 2:13)
Giga Chikadze def. Jamall Emmers via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Danaa Batgerel def. Guido Cannetti via KO (punches) (R1, 3:01)
Emily Whitmire vs. Polyana Viana – fight canceled
(Featured Image Source: Twitter/ UFC