Earlier this week, UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk made headlines when she attacked Rose Namajunas for being mentally weak.
The two square off this Saturday at UFC 217 for the belt live from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
During a media conference call, Jedrzejczyk referred to Namajunas and her mental state ahead of the fight. It is a game she has played with several opponents in the past, but as Namajunas explained, she wasn’t interested in it because of a family history of mental illness.
Jedrzejczyk discussed the subject on UFC Tonight Wednesday night.
“I didn’t know about her father. I wasn’t talking about her mental illness,” she said. “I was talking about her mental game. Before fights, she says she doesn’t want to fight. She didn’t want to do media. I’m enjoying this. This is part of my job. We must deal with it. She wants to be a champion, but she doesn’t want to do the work outside of the Octagon. I would never talk about someone with mental illness. It was wrong. But what I said was she doesn’t have a chance in this fight.”
As for her role on the show, Jedrzejczyk plans to steal “Fight of the Night” honors and tie Ronda Rousey’s record for consecutive title defenses by a female champion.
“I know Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre are the main fight, but Joanna is taking over the Garden on Saturday night.”
