Fans row over Jojua’s UFC future as sorry starlet suffers defeat after weight fiasco (VIDEO)

Georgian UFC star Liana Jojua has revealed the "long and difficult" preparations that led to her second straight defeat on Saturday, with her opponent claiming her weight was "Thanksgiving dinner big".

'She Wolf' missed weight by nearly three pounds for her contest with Cortney Casey, which she lost on a UFC card in Las Vegas headlined by Max Holloway's Fight of the Night points win over Yair Rodriguez.

The 26-year-old suffered an eye-catching nose bridge and was criticized over her defense in her unanimous decision loss that has left some fans arguing over whether the popular prospect's future with the promotion is at risk.

Jojua was outclassed throughout, with her American foe out-landing her 124-57 in total strikes which included an 86-30 deficit when striking from distance.

Jojua, who was mocked on Twitter for "blocking jabs with her head", has now lost five times in her 13-fight professional career, following up her TKO stoppage against Miranda Maverick on the undercard of Khabib Nurmagomedov's win over Justin Gaethje in October 2020.

"Jojua should be cut," argued one viewer. "She gets a takedown in every round but it’s too late. I mean you saw how easy it was, why not sooner?"

Others called the experience of watching Jojua "frustrating" and pleaded with the UFC to persist with her.

"I don't know why I felt the fight differently, but it turned out as you saw," Jojua told her Instagram following of more than 576,000 afterwards, adding that she was "disappointed with myself".

"There was a long and difficult preparation for the battle; many different circumstances. I really miss my family, who I have not seen because of this for months, and I am sorry that, having sacrificed a lot, [I] still lost – but the deed has already been done."

Casey, who earned her sixth win in 14 fights, described Jojua as "big – Thanksgiving big."

“I think, 100 percent, it was a conscious decision,” she said of Jojua's excessive weight.

“We had offered a catchweight at the beginning of the week and they turned it down. So, you know, we made the weight at 125, kind of knowing that she was going to still miss weight and come close to that 130 pounds.

"With her clothes on, she was 129 and they had to have her take her clothes off so that the fight could happen because I think it was like a three-pound limit.

"But yeah, I definitely think it was a conscious decision on their end to make sure that I had to cut the weight and suffer. She still came in heavy and heavy-heavy for fight day.”

Jojua lost 30 percent of her pay for missing weight. “We were supposed to fight in August and she was having visa issues,” Casey said. “Now, in the back of my head, I’m like, 'maybe it was a weight issue'.”