Joanne Calderwood Explains Decision Not to Wait on UFC Flyweight Title Shot

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Back when the Ultimate Fighting Championship still had some semblance of a normal event schedule, Joanne Calderwood was supposed to be next in line to face reigning flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, Shevchenko withdrew from a proposed clash against Calderwood on June 6 in Australia due to injury. While it would seem that Calderwood could sit on the sidelines and wait for her shot at the title, the Scotland native instead accepted a short-notice fight against Jennifer Maia at UFC Fight Night 173 on Aug. 1.

Calderwood recently explained her choice in a post on her Instagram account.

“With this sport you got to be ready for anything..I got word that Valentina pushed the date of her return back again and I made the decision to take a fight,” Calderwood wrote. “God is good. The next day I got offered this one, super excited because I was ready and I am still ready.

“We all take risks, and the risk waiting till the end of the year or whenever the champ does decide to come back is one I don’t want to take. ‘I’m a peacock, you gotta let me fly!’”

The 33-year-old Calderwood has been victorious in three of her last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Jojo” garnered a split verdict against Andrea Lee at UFC 242 this past September.

View this post on Instagram

With this sport you got to be ready for anything..I got word that Valentina pushed the date of her return back again and I made the decision to take a fight. God is good the next day I got offered this one, super excited because I was ready and I am still ready. We all take risks, and the risk waiting till the end of the year or whenever the champ does decide to come back is one I dont want to take. “I’m a peacock, you gotta let me fly!” #monthen #albagubrath #ufcapex #nevergiveup

A post shared by Joanne CalderWOOD (@badmofo_jojo) on Jul 21, 2020 at 8:59am PDT