Julie Kedzie addresses odd weigh-in face-off, past UFC mistakes

BRISBANE, Australia – Julie Kedzie isn’t quite sure if her upcoming opponent made a rookie move at Thursday’s weigh-ins, but she’s sure she did make some of her own in first UFC fight earlier this year.

Changing the behavior that led to her misstep is where she’s put her focus.

Kedzie (16-12 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who faces Bethe Correia (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) tonight at UFC Fight Night 33, admits she didn’t listen to her coaches prior to her octagon debut, and she paid for it. Facing Germaine Randamie at UFC on FOX 8, Kedzie saw punches coming, and she couldn’t seem to dodge them. It was like her energy was sapped.

No surprise, because she overtrained prior to the fight, staying in the gym when her advisors told her to go home.

“It sucked,” she told MMAjunkie immediately after UFC Fight Night 33 weigh-ins. “I sucked. It was a bad fight. I have no excuses for that fight. I just didn’t perform.”

Peak performance is a delicate thing in fighting – and the subject of countless hours of toil and experimentation. Kedzie is particularly harsh on herself for her mistake, calling it “unprofessional.”

“It’s like pulling strings and cutting this and that, and for me, I was just so nervous – and I pretended not to be – but I wanted to do well,” she said. “That’s a rookie move after all my fights.”

Kedzie isn’t worried about what Correia is bringing to the table when they fight – only that she’s in the best possible state to take advantage of her skills and experience.

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I don’t have a thought for her – my thought for myself, and how I’m going to do better,” she said.

Kedzie couldn’t summon much concern for whether Correia, whom she faces on the FOX Sports 1-televised main card of tonight’s event at Brisbane Entertainment Centre, was hoping to psych her out by trying to make her flinch during the face-off portion of the weigh-ins.

Correia, a replacement for another potential newcomer, Aleksandra Albu, glared at Kedzie. Kedzie, meanwhile, put her hands to her mouth in mock surprise. The experience seemed more odd than anything else to the veteran.

“She seemed really excited and mad,” Kedzie said. “Good for her. I’ve never had somebody try to fight me (at weigh-ins). I thought it was done. So I was like, ‘Alright, you’re still here? Ooh, OK. You’re scary. It’s what, my 30th fight? Let’s settle down. It’s tomorrow.’”

Kedzie, who almost always wears a wide smile, stopped herself.

“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful. I’m just kind of like, ‘It’s tomorrow.’”

A UFC official interjected soon after the interview began to take her back to the hotel, where she would eat and rest up for the fight tomorrow.

Kedize, who next year will mark her 10th anniversary as a pro MMA fighter, has fallen short in her past three outings. Yet she has another opportunity to turn things around on the big stage.

When she steps onto it, she hopes to show up this time.

For more on UFC Fight Night 33, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.