Joanna Jedrzejczyk thinks going five rounds with Weili Zhang again is doable but she needs to see more green.
Jedrzejczyk and Zhang are expected to collide on the UFC 275 PPV. The strawweight rematch is only scheduled for three rounds. This came as a disappointment to many fans as their March 2020 five-round banger is widely considered to be one of the greatest fights in MMA history.
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Joanna said that she wouldn’t mind changing the terms of the bout for five rounds.
“It’s [33] percent more time spent in the octagon if I do five rounds instead of three,” Jedrzejczyk told MMA Fighting. “Yeah, definitely, we will have to negotiate that, because I can fight, I want to fight five rounds. Let’s check the UFC’s position and Weili Zhang’s position, because a month ago, she turned down the fight. She didn’t want to fight and now we’re fighting.
“Let’s see. I don’t know if she wants to go five rounds with me. I don’t know this but I’m ready to do this.”
Joanna went on to say that she’ll need a sizable bump up in pay if she’s expected to go five rounds again.
“You change your training, your sparring a little bit, you put more effort into it,” Jedrzejczyk explained. “We will spend more time in the octagon putting our health and lives on the line. So we definitely have to get paid a little bit more.
“We are negotiating so we will see. I’m open to it and I know that Dana [White] said they would love to work on it. We’re just waiting on a response. Let’s see.”
Joanna Jedrzejczyk hasn’t fought since that loss to Weili. Zhang has fought twice since then, losing twice to Rose Namajunas. With the first defeat to Rose, Zhang lost the UFC Strawweight Championship.