The Ultimate Fighter can have unexpected results.
At one point, Brazil’s Wanderlie Silva was arguably the most beloved figure in mixed martial arts. He was paired opposite Chael Sonnen, who made a career out of offending Brazilians. But the TUF Brazil 3 audience ultimately turned on Silva.
The Ultimate Fighter 23 featured fan favorite UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. the frequently snarling Brazilian Claudia Gadelha. In a switch, Jedrzejczyk often came across as heavy handed on the show, and not in a good way, while Gadelha appeared to be bullied, and the sympathetic figure. Many attributed that to selective editing.?Jedrzejczyk often came across as heavy handed on the show, and Gadelha appeared to be bullied. Many attributed that to selective editing.
However, in a recent open media scrum, Jedrzejczyk said it was not “reality” television, it was her, and she offered an apology.
“The Ultimate Fighter, it all was real,” said Jedrzejczyk as transcribed by Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting. “Like, I was not playing. But I can say, I cannot like blame the TUF production, Claudia Gadelha, or myself. I said what I said and I did what I did, but the thing is that in our regular life we accept some people and some of the people we don’t accept, so definitely Claudia Gadelha is the person who I do not accept and that’s all. I know that she wants to take my belt, my life, my dreams, my goals away from me. I cannot let her do this, and that’s why I was acting like this.
“Sometimes you cannot help it, but I was real, and I’m sorry that you saw Bully Joanna, but it’s me. When I must fight for myself, for my dreams, my goals, my life, I will be tougher than her.”
There was reportedly a scuffle between the pair when the cameras were off that ended with Gadelha landing a high kick.
“Oh, come on,” scoffed Jedrzejczyk. “I have almost 100 Muay Thai fights, so I used to train and fight with really tough kickers. And so she didn’t kick me. She was trying to kick me, but it’s all over. It’s all about the fight, the upcoming fight on Friday, and that’s all I’m focused on.”
“For myself, I’m still little Joanna from the hood, from a small town in Poland, and I’m still having my goals, my dreams. Maybe some people think that it’s all about the hype, about the fame, but it’s not. It’s all about being the best. It’s all about challenging myself everyday. I want to be the best. I have my goals, my dreams.
“I want to be undefeated and I want to retire as undefeated. Maybe I will hold two belts in the future. Maybe it’ll happen next year. I don’t know, but I know that Claudia Gadelha is the person who I must keep doing what I am doing to make all my dreams and goals come true.”
Joanna Jedrzejczyk rematches Claudia Gadelha on Friday, July 8, in the TUF 23 Finale.
