“We pick this sport, I chose to be a fighter and we have to pay the price. Sometimes you have to be smart enough to say enough to protect yourself for the future."
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the former UFC strawweight champion, has explained why she is retiring. In a rematch earlier this month at UFC 275, the Polish fan favourite faced off against Weili Zhang. Their first fight, at UFC 248 in March 2020, was one of the best in UFC history. The rematch, however, was far more one-sided, with Jedrzejczyk being knocked out in round two. This was the former champion’s sixth defeat in her past seven matches.
Following her defeat, Jedrzejczyk revealed that she will be putting up her gloves. The 34-year-old spoke with MMAFighting about her choice to retire from MMA. Joanna Jedrzejczyk stated that she wants to go on her own terms. Although she lost against Weili Zhang, it was only one defeat, and it was one she could be proud of. The fan favourite also claimed that one of the reasons she decided to quit was that she didn’t want to be around as long as other MMA icons.
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While speaking to MMA fighting Joanna Jedrzejczyk said, “I always wanted to retire on my rules and I don’t want to be this gatekeeper. I don’t want to be this legend who is going to fight forever and forever and get beat up. That’s the thing. I accept where I am at, what my age is. The craziest thing about it is it was the best camp of my life. I was in the best shape ever. Stronger physically, mentally than before. That’s the craziest thing because I’m still having so much love for this sport and I don’t want to leave but somehow I have to take care of myself.” (h/t MMAFighting)
Joanna Jedrzejczyk continued, “We pick this sport, I chose to be a fighter and we have to pay the price. Sometimes you have to be smart enough to say enough to protect yourself for the future. That’s the thing. It’s hard. I’m still digesting my decision, and it isn’t easy, but somehow I’m happy.” Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the former UFC strawweight champion, announced her retirement after a horrific knockout loss to fellow former titleholder Zhang Weili at Saturday’s UFC 275 event in Singapore.
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