ABU DHABI \u2013\u00a0Joanne Calderwood\u00a0had a flyweight title shot all locked up \u2013 until she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Though she\u2019s ready to move on Saturday at\u00a0UFC 257, Calderwood (14-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) regrets the decision to risk her crack at the champion when she took another fight in lieu of waiting.<\/p>\n
In mid-2020, Calderwood was the designated next challenger for UFC women\u2019s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. However, when the champion was knocked out of action for a few months due to injury, Calderwood\u00a0elected to stay active and took a fight\u00a0against fellow contender Jennifer Maia rather than sit tight and wait for Shevchenko to heal.<\/p>\n
Calderwood was submitted in the first round and, while Maia went on to face Shevchenko for the title in November, Calderwood began a rehab of her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely regret it because I injured my arm, and I had to deal with that,\u201d Calderwood told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference Tuesday. \u201cThere was some stuff afterward that didn\u2019t go as planned. I regret it a little bit, but I try to see it as a positive. Everything happens for a reason. Here I am, not even a couple of months later, and fighting, so I\u2019m looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calderwood, 34, revealed that medical professionals had suggested she could undergo surgery, but she elected not to. Instead, she chose rehab and stem cell shots.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the outcome, Calderwood isn\u2019t putting too much weight into her lackluster performance that night. She wasn\u2019t her best self that night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it was the jiu-jitsu, honestly,\u201d Calderwood said. \u201cI just wasn\u2019t feeling good the whole day. Mentally, I was outside of my body. I\u2019ve been in that position a lot and I just felt like I wasn\u2019t there, if you know what I mean. I was outside. It wasn\u2019t my jiu-jitsu. It was just a bad day at the office.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Calderwood turns her attention away from the past and toward the future. The Scot fights on the UFC 257 pay-per-view main card on Saturday against Jessica Eye (15-8 MMA, 5-7 UFC), a fighter she does not like.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see her every day at the PI,\u201d Calderwood said. \u201cShe walks around like this \u2018skillbilly\u2019. She rubs me and she rubs everyone else up the wrong way. I feel like I\u2019m the lucky one who gets to punch her and get paid for it.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 We don\u2019t like each other, so yeah. I wouldn\u2019t say we\u2019re putting a lot of trash out there. Last week, before I left here, she was trying to talk to me in the changing room. So I don\u2019t if it\u2019s that much of a grudge (match). I think it\u2019s more for show. For me, I\u2019m just here to turn up and do my job and tell you guys honestly my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
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