- Joanna Jedrzejczyk said there’s a bad side to mixed martial arts as it can change your appearance.
- Jedrzejczyk was left disfigured after a brutal 25-minute war with the UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang earlier in the month.
- “I’m still a woman, I want to be attractive,” she told MMA Fighting. “I’m very girly, so I hate myself when I’m like this, but that’s the price we have to pay.”
- Zhang, meanwhile, remains in Las Vegas as she has been unable to leave the city and return to China because of a coronavirus outbreak in Nevada.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who was left disfigured in her recent UFC fight, said there’s a bad side to her sport because of the way it can change your appearance.
Jedrzejczyk lost a narrow decision to Weili Zhang after exchanging 768 strikes in a grueling 25-minute battle with the UFC strawweight champion in Las Vegas on March 7.
Both fighters went to hospital after the bout and, though they were released as their injuries were not deemed significant, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended them from fighting for two months so that they could recover.
Jedrzejczyk suffered a bent nose and had a huge hematoma on either side of her forehead, and it took at least two weeks before her face finally went back to normal.
"There's always a [bad] side to your job. I hate it, man, I hate it and I want to take care of my health," Jedrzejczyk said on an MMA Fighting podcast.
"Being an athlete, being in this sport … it changes your body, it changes your head, your mind, how you look, and how you walk."
Jedrzejczyk's vision in her left eye was reduced to approximately 5%, she said, and the swelling on her forehead reduced within days of the fight which left blue bruising.
"I'm still a woman, I want to be attractive," she said. "And I want to be a mother in the future so I always want to take care of my health. In the UFC you have everything - good healthcare, and they're always taking good care of us."
Jedrzejczyk added: "I know I'm in a man's sport, but I don't think there is a sport for a girl or a sport for a guy - the world is free, it's the 21st century.
"I'm very girly, so I hate myself when I'm like this, but that's the price we have to pay."
The price Zhang has to pay is being confined to Las Vegas
Zhang is the UFC's first champion from China, a wildly popular athlete in her country, and is now experiencing an even greater popularity boon after going toe-to-toe with Jedrzejczyk.
But Zhang, who was also left beaten-up and bruised after the March 7 battle, is unable to return to China because of travel restrictions and health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Zhang said the UFC wanted her to stay a few days after UFC 248 so that she could fulfill media obligations, but the COVID-19 outbreak then affected her ability to fly home.
"We decided to stay, since the risk of getting infected in the airport and on the flight is very high," Zhang told ESPN. "The situation in China is getting better every day, most of the infection cases are from outside of the country."
Zhang added that she had not watched the Jedrzejczyk fight back since the event. "I did not put on my best performance," she said.
While in lockdown in a rented property in southwest Las Vegas, Zhang said she's been keeping busy by training at home and speaking to the Chinese media.
"Almost all mainstream media has interviewed me," she said. "I heard there were over 100 million views of the fight within 24 hours in China. So many fans jammed the Chinese pay-per-view website to watch it live, the server went down."
Zhang said she is unsure when she will compete again, but might know more once the coronavirus pandemic abates and society - and sports - can restart.
Read more:
Joanna Jedrzejczyk's trainer wants an immediate rematch between his fighter and Weili Zhang
Watch the UFC slo-mo footage showing the punches that disfigured Joanna Jedrzejczyk's face
VIDEO: Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk both looked disfigured after a brutal, bloody UFC war