Think Joanna Jedrzejczyk is making excuses ahead of her UFC 223 rematch? Well, she doesn't care

Ahead of their rematch at UFC 223, Joanna Jedrzejczyk isn’t bothered by critics who say she’s making excuses for her title-fight loss to Rose Namajunas.

After going on a run to claim the UFC strawweight title and subsequently defending it five times, Jedrzejczyk’s (14-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) reign came to a stunning end at UFC 217 in November when Namajunas (7-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) scored a first-round knockout to capture the belt in a massive upset.

In the wake of the result, Jedrzejczyk revealed she’d gone through a punishing weight cut which nearly caused her to withdraw from the card on weigh-in day. She ultimately made it to the scale and hit the 115-pound limit, but Jedrzejczyk said the damage was already done and she wasn’t able to recover by fight night.

Jedrzejczyk, 30, said losing her title had nothing to do with underestimating Namajunas. She still believes blame for the result fell almost entirely on her weight cut, and she intends on proving that true at UFC 223.

“I would not have become UFC champion and defended my title five times if I was not respectful for my opponent,” Jedrzejczyk said on today’s UFC 223 conference call. “I took her very, very serious. She was my big challenge last time, but my weight cut impacted my body. I don’t care if people are going to say if it was my excuse. Only me and my team know what happened that night and how I felt in the octagon.”

UFC 223 takes place April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Jedrzejczyk vs. Namajunas co-headlines the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Following her issues at UFC 217, Jedrzejczyk fired her nutrition team and decided to take on the onus of making weight without hired help. She said some members of her camp at American Top Team have been lending assistance, but the Polish ex-champ is not leaving anything to chance.

Everything appears to be going smoothly for Jedrzejczyk, who shared that she was 122.5 pounds as of Wednesday morning. She said the lessoned burden of a large weight cut has allowed her to focus more on the fight, which marks a rematch of the only loss of Jedrzejczyk’s career.

Jedrzejczyk doesn’t plan on allowing Namajunas to go 2-0 against her, and she’s been patiently waiting for her shot at revenge. She said she’s glad the UFC brass kept true to its promise to give her an immediate rematch, and she said the “fluke” of Namajunas winning isn’t going to happen twice in a row.

“After the fight, (UFC President) Dana (White) said that he will get me back in a rematch,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I love Dana. He’s my boss, and I love to fight for the UFC. I don’t care what people say, he keeps his word, and he kept his word. So this is what I like about him, with the UFC. They heard how bad my weight cut was and how it affected my performance that night.

“I’m the best strawweight in the world and I will prove that on April 7. I could not stand someone fighting for the belt before me because this is my belt and I will prove that to all of you guys.”

For more on UFC 223, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.