Joanna Jedrzejczyk: ‘I’ve Got An Offer’ To Fight Valentina Shevchenko
We’re only little over a week since Nicco Montano was stripped of her women’s flyweight title, but already the UFC appear to be making plans to find a new champion.
Valentina Shevchenko look set to face Montano at UFC 228 in Dallas last weekend, but after the then champion was forced to stop her weight cut, Shevchenko was left high and dry and for the second time in her career was denied the opportunity to fight for a UFC title just 24 hours away from the fight.
With Monatno now subsequently stripped of the belt, rumours of a showdown between former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Shevchenko at UFC 230 have been rife. Jedrzejczyk, who was in attendance at UFC Moscow this past weekend, confirmed that she had an offer for the fight, but denied it was already a done deal.
“This fight is not on,” Jedrzejczyk said. “So of course I’ve got an offer, but we’ll see. I’m very open to fight Valentina Shevchenko. I always want to fight the best fighters, and definitely she is one of the top female fighters in the world.”
Jedrzejczyk, who reigned as the 115-pounds champion for over two years from 2015 to 2017, then went on to comment about Montano’s reign as the UFC flyweight champion. Suffice to say, the Pole wasn’t impressed and said that the TUF winner shouldn’t have used a bad weight cut as an excuse.
“We need real and dedicated fighters and champions in the UFC,” Jedrzejczyk said. The UFC is the best organization in the world. There’s no space and time for bullsh**t like this. It was a very hard decision, very tough decision.
“I believe she is not happy but you must take this job very serious and you must be 100 percent in. Weight cuts are not easy, are not nice. But it’s part of our job and you shouldn’t complain and you must be on weight when you have to be.”
Watch the full media scrum: