Joanna Jedrzejczyk discusses bully role on 'TUF 23': 'I said what I said and I did what I did'

LAS VEGAS – Joanna Jedrzejczyk is only mildly concerned that she might have come off as a bit of a bully in her coaching stint on Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

From the UFC strawweight champion’s perspective, it’s pretty much an is-what-it-is situation. And while the editing of an entire “TUF” season often can give a skewed version of reality, Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) isn’t making many major apologies – or excuses – for how she came off against her next opponent, Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who coached opposite her on the show.

“I can’t blame the ‘TUF’ production (team), Claudia Gadelha or myself,” Jedrzejczyk said today following an open workout for Friday’s TUF 23 Finale, which takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas with a main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. “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. (Claudia) is a person who I don’t 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 (on the show). The production couldn’t fit all the stories (in the series). I know the stories, and I can tell you honestly there’s no time to show everything that happened there. There were so many good stories, good moments.”

Jedrzejczyk will go after her third title defense when she meets Gadelha in the card’s main event. She has history with Gadelha prior to their bad blood coaching on the show. At UFC on FOX 13 in December 2014, Jedrzejczyk took a split decision from the Brazilian.

After that, it’s been a pretty phenomenal run for Poland’s Jedrzejczyk, who used that win over Gadelha to get a shot at inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champ Carla Esparza. She tore through Esparza, then did the same to Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau.

But Gadelha clearly will be her toughest title challenge yet – she’s only a mild favorite to win their rematch.

Even though oddsmakers believe the outcome of their Friday fight is somewhat in doubt, at least compared to the 22-1 favorite some made her against Letourneau and the 9-1 favorite some made her against Penne, Jedrzejczyk said one thing isn’t in doubt. If given a chance to coach “TUF” again, she said she’d do it – regardless of how she came off in the editing, or in reality, the first go-’round.

“I would like to do this one more time, even though it showed me as a bully person, because the most important thing was being a coach, and a friend for all of my fighters,” she said. “I’m still receiving messages from my fighters. They said I changed some of them, and I’m happy. That’s the most important thing. Sometimes you cannot tell, 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 …”

To hear more from Jedrzejczyk, check out the video above. Or to hear the full interview, click on the video below.

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.