My Mom's Basement - FRIDAY BONUS EPISODE 24 - JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK

Episode Date: March 6, 2020

Joanna Jedrzejczyk travels down to the Basement this week - just one day out from challenging Weili Zhang for the UFC Strawweight Title - to discuss her mindset going into the bout, her fight day routine, the legendary (and sometimes controversial) mind games she has inflicted upon opponents, and more.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

Hey My Mom's Basement listeners, you can find our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube and Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. I'm all messed up. It's going crazy, man. So many UFC events. I was there in Norfolk this weekend, so I just flew back. I'm all, I got my days messed up. I'm all messed up. This is actually your second time doing stuff in Barcelona. Are you coming to Vegas? No, I'm not. By the way, hello, everybody. It's good to be on your show for the first time, but not the last one because you will see me next week on my victory tour.

With the belt. I would love that, with the belt. Yeah, put the gold on the table and everything you've actually done stuff with Barstool before years ago this is like

two or three years ago you did a pizza review with my boss I don't know if you even remember that in New York City where you guys were reviewing pizza together

but oh yeah yeah yeah it was good but was I eating this pizza or not I tried a little bit I don't remember

I don't remember if you had I think I was on diet yeah that's why man I think it was on diet. Yeah, that's why, man. I think it was the roast fight. Yeah, today I was thinking about this. I love pizza, you know? Yeah.

And I would like to do that again. So you can't do it this week. It's fight week, obviously. No, 10 weeks on strict diet. But my weight is low, so I'm super excited, you know? All right, hell yeah. I feel tired, low on energy.

Tomorrow I'm i gonna jump on like 600 calories for three days but i'm going to be fine all right all right i believe you do you remember the first time your opponent wiley zhang caught your eye i remember i think it was oh like july june july so it was fairly recently i feel like that was the case with most people in wiley zhang it was a very quick rise to the top. Yeah, yeah. How do you feel about her entire rise where the title progression went through Rose and Andrade and her? She made it to the top.

That's the thing, you know. She's my next big challenge, but she made it to the top. In the UFC, we have like more than 500 athletes from all over the world. And it's like it's the best MMA organization in the world. So if you make it to the top 10, top 5, you're the GOAT already. If you're the challenger for the belt and you win the belt,

you make it to the league. Even after you lose the belt, you're still the superhero because you made it. You're different. She made it. She surprised the world in the fight with Jessica Andras in August.

It's her first title defense and she has to face me on Saturday. I don't want to take anything from her because I respect her so much. She's a very dangerous fighter, but she hasn't faced someone like me. But she's a very good athlete. She throws loopy, very strong and powerful punches.

She has this power, knockout power behind her punches. She's good on the ground. She's looking for submissions. So she's very, very, very dangerous, you know, and she's the champ for a reason. There's been sort of a pressure shift and you were the champion for so long and you had title fights for so long. 966 days. Yeah. And it's been more than 800, like 40, 50 days with me not having the belt and me having the third champ already, you know.

So it means that I was the champ for a reason. And I'm here for a reason. And I became two-time, and then you're two-time, the UFC Stroway champ on Saturday. Do you think she might feel more pressure for this fight than you being you have the experience? There is no pressure on me at all. I know you say that all the time. It's crazy. And believe me or not, there is no pressure on me, you know.

I was so motivated and so focused so disciplined in this camp as always but you know i surprised myself i surprised myself with every camp because i'm such a hard worker you know i i believe in hard work but this camp i was so focused you know there was there was only time for the main things the most important things you know and and i was very strict about everything and there is no pressure on me i have nothing to lose i can only earn you know and all eyes on her you know i i'm very happy very thankful and grateful for the ufc to the ufc people ufc and my fans you know because they can't wait to see me fighting and get competing but it's happening very soon guys so I want to put on show for my fans for

my country my God my family and myself you know I'm doing this for myself yeah so you talk about how great your camp was you're an American top team fighter and that gym has just been on a roll especially recently I feel like. What do you think it is about your gym that makes it what it is and people calling it one of the best MMA gyms ever? Two years in a row, we won the gym of the year, you know, fighters only. Great coaches, you know, great atmosphere. The owner of ATT, the number, the managers are making sure that we have everything we need and there is more and more people coming to train we have people from all over the world

training together learning supporting each other that's a that's a good thing you know that we are willing to help each other anytime and and that's why we're the best. We have so many athletes from different organizations fighting top ten, top five. So that's good. You've got someone in the main event on Saturday, right? Yoel is fighting Adesanya. Yes, it is. But you know what's good?

We have so many kids groups, and every time I'm back to ATT I see more and more kids training Jiu Jitsu, doing MMA, doing striking, this is what amazes me you know because I want to have kids and I'm like my kids are not going to fight but of course I'm going to give them choice you know but it's

so sweet to see these little girls or little boys wearing like big geese and training over there you know they are the future they are the third fourth fifth generation of mma you know so it's good to see and and give them show them how hard they should work and what they should do to get to the top you know yeah how old were you when you got into i got pretty late i was 16 you know i used to represent my school in so many different sports i used to play basketball i used to play handball other sports but i got to martial arts when i was 16

and i thought that it was late you know for me to become a professional athlete and the thing is that my parents they they they are not an athlete they were not They were never into the sport. So I was, oh, I'm not going to be an athlete. And this is what I teach young people now. If your parents are lawyers, if your parents are physicians, doctors, it doesn't matter. You can be whoever you want to be. You know this. If you have a dream, if you're willing to put on work

and you're putting on actual work, you can get to the point where you want to be. Sometimes it takes a decade, two decades. But guys, believe me, it's worth it to be someone original, to be someone different than the rest of the population. Not running every day from 8 to 4. Spend the time at the Times Square, working at the office. Some people like it. That's good.

But guys, life is so short. It's too beautiful to spend the time on things we don't like to do, you know. Of course, we have to make money. We must work hard to make a living, pay the bills. But believe me or not, do what you want to do in your life,

you know, and be happy. The good thing is, I'm meeting so many athletes and one happy the good thing is uh i'm meeting so many athletes and one of the most decorated uh athletes from poland anita vodarchuk who is like olympian actually she's coming to the fight because they the polish team is training in san diego preparing for the olympics in in tokyo she was 16 when she started three times olympian champion that's amazing there is always there is, it's never too late to change your life and became a world champion, you know?

Yeah. So you talked about feeling no pressure for this fight. No pressure at all, man. And sometimes you are like, you have to, you must. I don't have to. I don't must. Do you ever feel nerves at all? Do you ever get that?

No, since I remember, I was like, gosh, I love it, you know? That's crazy to me. No, since I remember, I was like, gosh, I love it. You know, I fought in Melbourne, Australia. On Etihad Stadium? Yep, I think so. Yeah. So 55,000, 56,000 people. You're talking the Valerie Loretta card? Yeah.

No, no, no. Or not Loretta, I'm sorry. Ronda Rousey. Letourneau. Yeah, Letourneau. I faced Valerie Letourneau. But Holly Holm andonda, Rousey. Letourneau. Yeah, Letourneau. I faced Valérie Letourneau, but Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey were the main event. But the thing is,

I could feel every single person at this stadium. It was amazing. And since I remember, I love that. Maybe there is some kind of stress or pressure, but I don't feel. I like to talk to people. I like to hang out with my coaches, my family.

I like to laugh. I like to go for a walk. I like to go and eat with them before the fight. Of course, I keep my focus. My eyes are getting like iced because I have green, blue, but in the fight we are iced, but I'm full of fire and I'm focused.

But, you know, I love this, you know i i love this you know i love doing this and and i love every single person who supports me you know so what do you do fight day when you actually wake up on the morning of a fight i always want to sleep as long as i can and good breakfast and then i take a break i do some the sweat, you know. It's like 10 minutes of eating pads, but light. And you build the hanger, you know. Hangers, you want to do more, but you have to keep it for the, you have to keep the cherry for the main cake, you know, in the evening. And then I go nap, eat again.

And, you know, I don't like to eat much in the day of the fight but you know just chilling once you get to the arena do you watch other fights? I like to pack my stuff before I pray and I leave the arena sometimes I watch the fights but I like to go early, prepare

make sure everything is prepared you know because I put I sacrifice myself during camp and i put tons of work uh into you know and i'm an athlete you know i live uh uh you know 75 90 percent of this mma award is a men's world you know guys you are like zero to one. Everything is white or black. There is nothing between. So I kind of like it. I'm well organized, always very professional. So I want to make sure I'm on time.

I have everything ready to fight. Yeah. So let's talk about another aspect of your game, and that's your mind games. You've been known to be a great shit talker from writing things on your water bottles to getting in your opponent's face pre-fight. But I was never offending anybody. And even if I wrote something on my bottles, it was like motivational. For you, yeah. Yeah, it was.

But I don't do trash talk. I do what I feel. I say what I feel like I want to say because I'm an adult person and I'm responsible for my words and acts, you say? No, how do you say? Yeah, actions. Actions. And the thing is like, I never offend. But if someone is trying to step on my toe, I'm going to show who I am, you know?

And there is no time for nice, you know? And that's the thing. It's a fight game, you know? It's not a poker, you know? It's not a game. Real emotions now you know and and that's the that's the thing it's a fight game you know it's not a poker you know it's not a game uh real emotions you know and sometimes people can say like too much or you were not aggressive the face-off was just okay the face-off was intense i'm the only one now who is dealing with everything you know there is many people helping me preparing for the fights my coaches but at the end it's all about me and my opponents stepping in the octagon, eye to eye you know, and who is

better, you know, there are people your opponents are telling you before the fight you're weak, you're not strong, you're not fast, you're not ready no, you have to prove them wrong, you know, that you are ready, you know so you seem to like the stare down you seem to like getting in your opponent's face

it's not a game, but I like to play with them, if they wanna So you seem to like the stare down. You seem to like getting in your opponent's face. It's not a game, but I like to play with them. If they want to check me out, I let them, you know. Yeah, it's definitely frightening. From a fan's perspective, it's frightening. People are like, oh, she's arrogant. She's cocky. I'm not arrogant.

I'm not cocky. I'm confident. Yes, I'm confident because of the amount of work I put in every single day, you and i believe in myself the worst thing in the world is not believing in yourself and very often people are like why are you so confident because i believe in myself because i know i have done everything to be in this spot facing the best and and putting on show you know have you always been that way or was it you being a champion i'm 87 you remember. I'm 87, you know, and I used to, I had a, I'm having a great family, you know, and I had everything in my life. My parents taught me how to be a good human, you know. They taught me how to work hard, respect the money, respect the other person, share their love, you know.

That's why I help kids with the cancer mostly, you know. I want to have my foundation and help poor kids i do lots of charity but uh you know that time there was no cell phones you know and now the kids are and now it's the generation the generation is all about technology and i love the 21st century technology medicine everything is going forward you know but it's bad because we used to hang out outside with tons of other kids you know and I always had respect in the hood I always had older people you know I was not a like a tomboy or bad girl but I used to like stand my ground even if you put like 100 people in the front of me and they will

say yes I will say no and I was gonna feel like I'm right I will stand my ground. Even if you put 100 people in front of me and they will say yes, I will say no, and I'm going to feel like I'm right, I will stand my ground. I'm not like a flag. I don't change my mind or my actions because of the wind. That's the thing. This is who I am and who I always was. All right. Well, I'm very excited for the fight.

I hope you come back here on the victory tour. What's your prediction? If you give us a prediction. I don't like to predict the fights. And it's a championship fight. UFC is simply the best organization in the world. I'm proud to represent the best and represent my country, the UFC events. And no prediction.

I'm ready for everything and anything, for five rounds bound, but I have some aces in my pocket. I've been working on my wrestling and grappling game, and I did some adjustments in my striking game. So I feel like we are going to give the best strawweight fight in the UFC history. Man, I hope so. I think we all hope to see it. Best of luck.

Best of skill on Saturday. There is hope because hope should die the last. How do you say that? Hope should be gone last. As in last. You know what I mean? Yeah. But there is hope, but there is no hope because I know I will be paying the fucking check.

I fucking love it. All right. Yolani on Jake Check, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, man.