Rose Namajunas Believes Joanna Jedrzejczyk ‘Belongs At 125-Pounds’
Anticipation is building ahead of the rematch between Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 223 with the two going head-to-head for the second time in under 5 months.
Namajunas defeated Jedrzejczyk last November at UFC 217 when she upset the odds and forced the champion to tap out to strikes. After the bout, Jedrzejczyk revealed she went through a gruelling weight cut just 24-hour prior to the fight and said that her performance subsequently suffered a lot as a consequence.
Jedrzejczyk’s fellow Pole Karolina Kowalkiewicz last week spoke about Jedrzejczyk’s response to the fight and said that she didn’t totally believe that she lost because of a consequence of a bad weight cut. Kowalkiewicz also added in the interview with MMANews.pl that she is hoping Namajunas once again defeats Jedrzejczyk at UFC 223.
Speaking this week on the UFC Unfiltered Podcast, Namajunas was asked about Kowalkiewicz’s response.
“I’ve always like Karolina, she’s a great competitor and it would be great one day to rematch her and avenge that loss against her,” Namajunas said. “There could be some truth to what she is saying, I like to take peoples word for it, especially if I’m going into a fight against them. I don’t like to draw my own conclusions or assumptions, because there’s a lot we don’t know.
“We know for a fact that weight cutting is never good and I think Joanna does belong at 125-pounds. I’ve heard of rumours that she’s always had a tough weight cut, not just this fight. It’s just something I don’t agree with. I don’t cut that much weight myself. I walk around at 125-pounds and by fight week I’m around 120-pounds. I still drink water, I just don’t eat solid food. That’s the important way to weight cut, so I don’t know, I just hope she does it this time and that it happens and that she’s the best version of herself so I can prove I’m the best in the world.”
Namajunas certainly has plenty of options open to her and no shortage of opponents lined up.
