Imagine pounding the mat in training camp, putting in 10 grueling rounds of work per day, only to receive potentially bad news … before even stepping foot into the Octagon.
That’s Michelle Waterson’s current reality after ESPN reported Wednesday that Joanna Jedrzejczyk notified the UFC over a week ago that she would not be able to make the strawweight limit of 116 pounds for her fight against “The Karate Hottie” on Saturday night.
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Jedrzejczyk failing to make weight could put the proposed UFC Tampa main event in jeopardy and leave Waterson out in the cold to no fault of her own.
“It seems like I’m in a bit of a pickle,” Waterson told Sporting News on Wednesday hours after the news broke.
“It’s a bit disheartening," she continued. “This is a huge fight — main event, title contention, five rounds — something that I’ve been preparing for my entire UFC career and I honestly feel the most ready I’ve ever been.”
Waterson and her team at the renowned Jackson Wink MMA Academy specifically logged heavy rounds at camp to cater to Jedrzejczyk’s style, incorporating the Polish fighter’s penchant for volume striking and taking bouts the distance. So, to face the prospect that the fight might not take place at all is disappointing to say the least.
“It does feel like I can’t catch a break,” Waterson admitted. “I’m like right, right there just in arm’s reach of fighting for the title and I have to fight opponent after opponent and then they tell me I have to fight Johanna if I want a shot. So, I say ‘Let’s do it. Let’s rock and roll.’ And then this happens.”
Well, it hasn’t happened yet, as Waterson is still holding onto the hope that Jedrzejczyk makes weight Friday.
“I know that Johanna is professional, and I hopes that she pulls through, digs deep within herself and shows up on weigh-in Friday,” Waterson offered. “If the winner of this fight gets to fight for the belt, she should make weight — not for flyweight, not for featherweight, for strawweight.”
Waterson said her fighting spirit would want to face Jedrzejczyk even if she doesn’t make weight, although that decision would be up for discussion with her team.
But Waterson can’t control what happens — or doesn’t happen — at the scale Friday. The 33-year-old did her part, entering fight week in the best shape of her recent memory and is raring to go Saturday night.
Waterson has been on a tear lately, stringing together three straight victories in fights that she entered as the underdog. There was the split decision over Cortney Casey last April, followed by the unanimous decision over Felice Herrig that October and another unanimous nod over Karolina Kowalkiewicz this past March.
When asked about the current streak, Waterson doesn’t point to what’s been working for her during the run, but what sparked it, instead. It took back-to-back losses against Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres to wipe out her 2017 and ignite this surge.
“A loss can tell a lot about a fighter,” she said. “I decided those losses were learning curves for me and a stepping stone to get one step closer to the belt.
“I think if we all look in our lives at one point or another, there are things that we really, really, really want,” she adds. “But it’s only when you decide to take them that it actually happens and becomes a reality because if you only want it, it’s just is a dream. So, I just decided, ‘You know what? This is what I want. I know I could get it and I’m going after it.’”
She certainly has done that and sincerely hopes that Jedrzejczyk, the self-proclaimed strawweight queen, upholds her end of the bargain. If the main event gets dashed due to Jedrzejczyk failing to make weight, perhaps the UFC can move Waterson into its UFC 244 pay-per-view, headlined by Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 2.
Although she has blinders on for this weekend, Waterson admits that competing on the stacked card is appealing.
“Yeah, because I’m a bad motherf …,” she said, stopping short of cursing, but clearly referring to the main event billing deciding the “Baddest Motherf—r” in MMA.
“I can’t think about that right now,” Waterson added upon further thought. “Ask me again after Friday.”
Hopefully, reporters won’t need to and Waterson gets to fight in her first five-round main event Saturday night, with the chance to inch closer to strawweight champ Zhang Weili and possibly become the UFC's first "#MomChamp" as she so covets.
"I would love to be UFC’s first champion who’s a mother, who has birthed a child and came all the way to the top," she offered. "I’d love to share that journey with millions of people around the world."
