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Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha almost stole the show at the "Unstoppable" press conference before UFC 196. UFC president Dana White had to send security to get between them on the dais and then White had to forcefully separate the two women during a faceoff.
White then explained later that night at the EA Sports UFC 2 video game launch party at Mandalay Bay that just a few days earlier Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha got into a "full-blown fist fight" after The Ultimate Fighter 23 filming wrapped up. The two women are coaching against one another on the show, which will being airing April 20 on FOX Sports 1.
At the launch party, Jedrzejczyk, the UFC women's strawweight champion, did not want to talk about the brawl with Gadelha. But she had no problem saying how she believes Gadelha reacted to seeing her every day for six weeks.
"I think I broke her already," Jedrzejczyk said. "So, I cannot help it. It's me, Joanna Champion. I just want to make sure I'm gonna put on good preparations and I'm gonna win the fight July 8."
At the "Unstoppable" press conference, Jedrzejczyk kissed her fist and pointed it toward Gadelha's face during the staredown. Gadelha got angry and tried to get at her. White pushed them both away and might have taken a punch to the back from the irate Brazilian.
When asked if it was difficult being in the same room with her every day for almost a month, Jedrzejczyk smiled.
"No, it wasn't hard," she said. "It was funny and I was enjoying every moment. ... I think it was hard for her. She might go crazy a little bit, because one day I was nice, the other day I wasn't. So who knows."
White said he also had to get between the two women in the final square off of the season when Gadelha told Jedrzejczyk to "shut up, b*tch." That was caught on camera, of course. The actual fight between the two women was not. It came after the cameras were put away, White said.
"Joanna Jedrzejczyk hit her with a water bottle and that's how the fight started," White said. "Wait until you see this season of The Ultimate Fighter with these two. They hate each other and the staredown in the gym was even crazy before the fight happened."
Gadelha addressed the brawl at the "Unstoppable" press conference, too.
"The bottle didn't hit me, but I kicked you, remember?" she said.
Jedrzejczyk (11-0) beat Gadelha via split decision the first time they met in December 2014. Many thought Gadelha should have gotten the nod on the judges' scorecards. Since then, Jedrzejczyk has won three in a row, including a title-winning victory over Carla Esparza at UFC 185 in March 2015. Gadelha defeated Jessica Aguilar by unanimous decision at UFC 190 back in August.
"I think she doesn't deserve it, to fight for a title," Jedrzejczyk said. "I fought three times last [year]. She fought just one time after our fight. But OK. Let's not talk about it. She's a challenger. She's still No. 1 in the strawweight rakings, so she kind of deserves it. So I'm happy I'm gonna face her. I've got so much respect for her. She's a very good athlete. Her jiu-jitsu is amazing. But I'm complete -- I'm a champion."
Jedrzejczyk, 28, beat Esparza, Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau last year, doing significant damage to each of them. She finished Esparza and Penne by TKO and won a unanimous decision over Letourneau at UFC 193 in November.
"I'm gonna finish what I start," she said. "Let's just talk about the title fights. Carla was supposed to wrestle with me. She was supposed to take me down so many times. She couldn't. Jessica Penne was a smart ass before the fight. I broke her nose, but she was lucky -- she got the bonus and she shouldn't. Then she got extra money for plastic [surgery], probably at the best hospital. She was lucky, too. Valerie, she was kind of confused when she couldn't reach me with the high kick, because I was slipping all the time. So, I feel sorry for all of them. What can I say about that?"
In Jedrzejczyk's mind, Gadelha is next and the Polish striker feels like she's already taken up some real estate in her head.
"I know that every fighter is talking about how hard they've been training and how hard they're gonna train, but really I want to like just beat Claudia so badly," Jedrzejczyk said. "I just want to give this fight for all of you, for all of my fans. I'm gonna enjoy this."
LINK to article: Joanna Jedrzejczyk on filming TUF with Claudia Gadelha: 'I think I broke her already'
