Joanna Jedrzejczyk's face brutalized during UFC 248 loss

Explore More

Joanna Jedrzejczyk looked unrecognizable.

The 32-year-old Polish fighter suffered a gruesome hematoma during her UFC 248 loss to Zhang Weili, the 30-year-old from China who successfully defended her strawweight title Saturday in Las Vegas in what is being called one of the best fights in the promotion’s history.

Jedrzejczyk, who held the title from March 14, 2015, to Nov. 4, 2017, had a frighteningly swollen forehead at the end of the fight. Zhang also had her face badly damaged in the co-main event as both fighters were hospitalized afterward. Both were released early Sunday without any major injuries, according to ESPN. Zhang won by split decision.

The fight was in stark contrast to the main event, a boring letdown between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero. Adesanya won a unanimous decision to retain his middleweight title.

“That was a tough act to follow,” UFC president Dana White said. “I’d have to say the best women’s fight I’ve ever seen, and one of the best fights I’ve ever seen.”

When Jedrzejczyk lost the strawweight title to Rose Namajunas at Madison Square Garden in 2017, that marked the first loss of her MMA career; she was previously 14-0. She revealed earlier this year that 2019 was a difficult year for her. She said her fiance was cheating on her and her manager mishandled her money.

ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3F7j2xmaXBfn7yius2aZKOdlKfHprbCs7Ckq12brqSxjJuprqyRoba7scNmm66qmaO0bsHFnGRrbGhiubC%2F0mg%3D