UFC ‘Tampa’ Diary

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A look behind the curtain at UFC Fight Night 161 …

You go into each fight week with an eye toward the storylines, and with UFC Fight Night 161, which was headlined by former women’s Strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and top-ranked contender, Michelle Waterson, the storyline was clear:

Did Joanna still have what it takes to become champ again?

Of course, when news broke on Wednesday that Joanna might not make weight, that just added to the tempest. What if she didn’t hit her mark? Angela Hill could be seen lurking around the fighter hotel, eager to jump in if Waterson refused to fight a heavier version of Jedrzejczyk. And what if Joanna did make weight? Would she be too drained to effectively deal with Waterson’s striking and slick transitional grappling?

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When Joanna did make weight on Friday, that latter question was the only one that mattered. Sure, everyone was curious about Kron Gracie’s prospects against the aging — some may say far past his prime — Cub Swanson. There was also the question mark hanging over Mackenzie Dern’s head, as Dern had given birth just four months ago, and the notion of her being ready after essentially making another human being from scratch seemed like folly.

But ultimately, the biggest question, the biggest storyline of the night centered around the Polish Muay Thai specialist, and whether or not a crack at reigning champ Zhang Weili lay somewhere in her future.

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Welcome To Amalie Arena

Tampa is a city on the west coast of Florida that isn’t known for its Polish population. But the amount people within Amalie Arena wearing t-shirts bearing the design of the flag of Poland told a different story. UFC hadn’t put a lot of big stars on this ESPN+ card, but it had Joanna, and that was enough to get more than 10,000 fans to show up … that and the promise of violence.

As a journalist, you often get a seat in press row, just a few feet away from the Octagon, but that seat doesn’t afford you more than an up-close look at the action. No, to get the meat and potatoes of what the fighters are thinking, you have to wait backstage, in the media room. There, before a backdrop bearing UFC’s logo, the athletes will come and stand before a bank of cameras and microphones, fielding questions about the fight they’ve just won.

To keep abreast of what’s going on the cage, journalists can watch the broadcast on two big television screens. But when a fighter shows up — battered and bruised and flush with victory — those screens are more distraction than attraction.

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Crowd-Pleasers

Flyweight J.J. Aldrich out-works Lauren Mueller for the decision, and soon Aldrich is the first fighter to visit the media room. Coach Pat Barry hands her a plate bearing a slice of chocolate cake (yes, the media room has food). “My team is the best,” she says, and as she begins to talk about teammate Rose Namajunas, the cheers from the arena threaten to drown out her words; on screen, Marvin Vettori is beating the stuffing out of Andrew Sanchez.

“He accused me of juicing,” says Vettori, when it’s his turn backstage. He’s describing the source of all the bad blood between him and Sanchez, but soon the cheers of crowd as Miguel Baeza kicks the legs out from under Hector Aldana are echoing, and Vettori is struggling to be heard.

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Cheers from Marlon Vera pounding out Andre Ewell. Cheers from Deiveson Figueiredo tapping Tim Elliott out with a guillotine. When Figueiredo is backstage, with coach Wallid Ismael doing all the talking (apparently Figueiredo’s English is virtually non-existent), the noise is from the crowd reacting to the battle between Alex Morono and Max Griffin.

For all those fans who showed up for the violence, it’s obvious they’re getting their money’s worth.

Main Card Throwdowns

Only the undercard fighters are sent back to the media room for post-fight interviews — the main carders get a post-event press conference. So after Welterweight slugger Mike Perry pays us a visit (watch it), it’s time to sit in press row.

Middleweights Eryk Anders and Gerald Meerschaert serve as the main card opening bout, and the beating they visit upon each other has the arena jumping.

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The back-and-forth battle between Matt Frevola and Luis Pena has everyone howling, with Frevola’s fans shouting encouragement and the arena as a whole booing loudly when Frevola takes the split decision (it looked like Pena deserved the nod).

When Dern squares off against Amanda Ribas, the crowd grows a bit subdued — Dern can’t seem to do anything except eat punches, and three rounds of that can make even the most intoxicated Tampa resident bored.

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Then Niko Price up-kicks James Vick into a murderous slumber (watch it), and it’s pandemonium again, with respectful clapping offered up when Vick is finally able to rise from the Octagon floor and sit wobbly on a stool.

The energy level remains constant for all three rounds of Swanson and Gracie’s fight, with the crowd appreciative that Rickson Gracie’s son allowed himself to become a human punching bag for the duration.

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Joanna Gets It Done

Both Waterson and Jedrzejczyk make their walks to the Octagon amidst applause and cries of approval. Yet, when the fight begins, and the pattern of Joanna picking apart “Karate Hottie” with strikes emerges, the crowd remains largely quiet. The ex-champ is getting the job done, and soon her foe’s white rashguard is stained red with blood, but five rounds of the same flavor of beatdown can be monotonous.

However, the few times Waterson manages to take Joanna’s back and threaten with a choke, the arena erupts — not so much because they’re rooting for Waterson, but because it’s a sudden, exciting shift in momentum.

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And then time has run out, and the rendering of the decision is purely academic because even a blind person could have seen the Joanna deserved the “W” (watch highlights). Waterson is gracious in defeat, hugging Joanna and congratulating her, and hugging teammate Holly Holm when she exists the cage.

Will Jedrzejczyk ever be champ again? We won’t know until she faces Weili, and in just a few minutes the postfight examination by a doctor backstage will see Joanna in a wheelchair, hobbled by a likely broken foot.

But beating Waterson in such dominant fashion maybe indicates that she might still be able to earn that belt.

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For sure, beating Waterson — and the reaction of the crowd in Tampa — tells us that fans certainly hope so.

For complete UFC Fight Night 161: “Joanna vs. Waterson” results and play-by-play, click HERE.