Jessica-Rose Clark has released a pair of videos detailing the weight-cutting mishap that sent her to the ER ahead of UFC Milwaukee and forced her off the card.
Needless to say, Jessica-Rose Clark’s week in Milwaukee did not go according to plan. Booked into a hotly anticipated scrap with Andre ‘KGB’ Lee at the UFC Milwaukee card, ‘Jessy-Jess’ had a shot to regain momentum in the flyweight division. Instead, after a rough weight cut that saw her faint, she’ll exit the weight class entirely, returning to her former home of 135lbs. A sombre, apologetic Clark announced the move Saturday in a pair of videos posted to social media, including her official Youtube channel.
With just a few pounds to go in her weight cut, Clark explained that she “was planning on catching the 5AM shuttle to the Sauna” to shed the final few pounds. Noting that she was feeling better than in her weight cut in St. Louis earlier this year, Clark said that she went up to her hotel room, “went to the bathroom and apparently passed out. My coach, Walker, came and found me, panicked because he thought he killed me, and took me straight to ER. They put me on an IV, then when I met with the UFC doctor, the fight got called off.”
The source of the issue is a mystery for now. “I don’t really know what happened. I had some health issues earlier in the year around the Paige fight,” she revealed. “I was actually really sick going into that fight, and ended up doing a lot of blood tests and stuff, and there were some underlying issues that I thought — I took ten weeks off after that, and thought that I’d fixed them. So I’m going to go back this week and get some more blood work done and just see what is happening.”
“I don’t really have an answer about that yet, she continued, but added that “as soon as I do, I’ll be vocal about it. There hasn’t been much negativity, but I’ve seen a few people saying that I didn’t prepare properly, or I didn’t diet well.” That’s not the case, however. Clark revealed that she had kept her walk-around weight lower, and quit drinking over the past several months.
Clark also touched on leaving Syndicate MMA, saying that there was more to it she might talk about some day, but that “it just wasn’t a good environment for me. Kind of the only thing that I can compare it to is a really toxic relationship. I was getting to the stage where I just dreaded going in there every day. I didn’t feel like I was learning anything new, I hated training. I’ve never hated training. I love my job, but every day, I dreaded going in there. It was a struggle, I had to physically force myself to go and train.”
“I stand by my decision to leave Syndicate,” she reiterated, despite her struggles in Milwaukee. Saying she still felt sick, she added that “I feel bad for Andrea. She’s had a really tough year as well. I know she was relying on that money. I’m just grateful, I got told the UFC still paid her her show fee.” Clark also said that she had spoken to Lee personally to apologize.
As for a rematch, “Honestly, I’m going to go back to 135. I’ve already spoken to my team about it, I’ve spoken to my nutritionist, I’ve spoken to Mick Maynard about it. Every single one of them is aligned with the idea that I need to go back to 135.”
“The reason I went down to 25 is because of coaches I had that were telling me I was too small to be a bantamweight,” she noted, “and that I needed to be a fly. But I’ve tried four times now.”
You can watch her full statement in the video above. In a second video, she also addressed KGB Lee, thanking her “for being a good human being,” and also thanking the UFC for giving her a second chance. You can view that below.
🦖LINK IN INSTA BIO🦖
For everyone asking why I’m not fighting tonight, here it is. Full video on my YouTube.
Again, sorry to Andrea, the UFC, my fans, friends and family.
It’s been a horrible weekend, but I’m grateful to be here.
Love you all ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UhYoSbbY5l— Jessy Jess (@missjessyjess) December 15, 2018
