Joanna Jedrzejczyk rebukes rumors of possible UFC Tampa main event cancellation

Reports surfaced on Wednesday that Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 19 main event between former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and top contender Michelle Waterson was in danger of being cancelled because of Jedrzejczyk struggling to make weight. The former champ, however, is telling everyone to remain calm.

According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, multiple unnamed sources said that Jedrzejczyk informed UFC official more than a week ago that she would be unable to make the 116-pound limit for the fight. He also stated that Waterson’s camp refused to accept a catchweight bout.

If the fight moves forward and Jedrzejczyk misses weight, the bout could still happen, but Waterson would have to agree to it and would receive 30-percent of Jedrzejczyk’s fight purse, per Florida regulations.

Jedrzejczyk, however, took to Instagram to post videos where she insisted that everyone should remain calm about the situation.

“The fight is on, the weighs-in are on Friday. Keep it calm, guys. All fine, step by step. I will see you there,” Jedrzejczyk said.

“Did I miss something? Did I miss the weigh-ins today or what? Because the weigh ins are on Friday, isn’t it?”

Such speculation might easily be chalked up to rumor if not for Jedrzejczyk struggling to make weight in the past. Though she ruled the strawweight division for a couple of years, she lost back-to-back title bouts to Rose Namajunas after having a hard time hitting the championship mark. 

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Jedrzejczyk rebounded with a win over Tecia Torres, but then moved to flyweight to face Valentina Shevchenko for the vacant 125-pound title. She lost that fight and is now making an attempt to get back into the thick of flyweight title talk with a win over Waterson.

UFC on ESPN+ 19: Joanna vs. Waterson is slated for Saturday in Tampa, Fla.

"Keep it calm, guys. All fine."

Joanna pokes fun at the weight cut conversation #UFCTampa (via @joannamma) pic.twitter.com/4Q32HfYqHv

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 9, 2019