Kansas City — UFC bantamweight Joselyne Edwards got exactly the sort of fight she expected against Lucie Pudilova at UFC Kansas City.
The fans, however, did not get the result they were expecting. Following a close three rounds that saw Edwards awarded a split decision, a multitude of wags and pundits chimed in on social media, decrying the result and proclaiming a robbery had transpired.
Asked whether she was confident she had done enough to win the fight while the scores were being read, Edwards told reporters including Cageside Press that “considering the amount of time I have spent watching and experiencing mixed martial arts, at this point nothing surprises me.”
“She did get the takedown,” Edwards acknowledged, “but being on top means nothing unless you’re working. She did work some, but she was missing a little bit more in order to get the victory.”
Following the fight, there was a bit of a scene in the cage, as Edwards could be seen flipping the bird at her opponent. “There was no heat, there was no argument, I simply wanted to be respectful. I just wanted to shake her hand like I usually do, but apparently she was not happy with the decision, and she just gave me her back when I went to embrace her,” Edwards explained.
The Panamanian fighter missed weight for the bout, the second straight occasion in which that has happened. It has many questioning whether she ought to return to featherweight, but Edwards addressed that issue Saturday.
“Had I lost, I would not have mentioned it, because it would have sounded like an excuse. But I got my period earlier than I expected. It was the same day as the weight cut, and I was retaining a little extra water. I know some people might have questions because I did miss weight at my previous fight in Texas, but it was a short-notice fight and I had to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time.”
On that occasion, with her health in mind, it was decided that she should not continue her cut. But for UFC Kansas City, Edwards reiterated, “I was not expecting my period to come so early, but we had to deal with that.”
Watch the full UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference with Joselyne Edwards above.
