This Saturday at UFC Berlin, Jessice Penne, a former Invicta FC champion, will challenge for the UFC strawweight title, currently in possession of Polish Muay Thai expert Joanna Jedrzejczyk. It’s a fight that Penne will enter as the big underdog, especially considering how dominant and one-sided Jedrzejczyk won the belt against Carla Esparza in March.
But Penne doesn’t “mind being the underdog”, she said at a media scrum on Thursday. “I think it’s a great role, there’s more pressure on her and there’s nothing for me to do, but do my best and have fun.”
Jedrzejczyk dismantled former champion and The Ultimate Fighter 20 winner Carla Esparza in March, to capture the title. Esparza, the stronger wrestler, couldn’t manage to take Jedrzejczyk to the ground and was basically nothing more than a moving target for the multiple-time Muay Thai world champion who dissected her for three rounds. For Penne, a BJJ blackbelt, the key to victory might also be taking the vicious Polish striker to the mat.
“I believe that I’m a very well-rounded fighter, so I’m comfortable wherever the fight goes”, she explained. “But I have way more experience than her on the ground, so I’m definitely going to challenge her there.”
However, Penne doesn’t seem to be too impressed by Jedrzejczyk’s striking.
“I’ve definitely been challenged by tough strikers in training, in fights. I don’t think she’s ever fought somebody like me though”, she assured.
Penne, like Esparza, has made her way into the UFC via the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter, where she managed to reach the semifinals. An experience, that helped her advance with her career, but that she wouldn’t want to do again — ever.
“It was definitely a difficult process for me. It is something I never really wanted to do, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I’m happy that I went through it, I definitely benefited from it, but it was very difficult for me”, she laughed. “I’m happy it’s over.”
The only way, Penne would step foot into a TUF house again, is being a coach, she said.
“I think that would be a lot of fun. I would definitely do it from that angle. I would never participate in it again, but I think that being a coach would be very interesting and challenging, and I’d be up for it.”
Penne also talked about the pasta joke made by Jedrzejczyk, a possible rematch against Michelle Waterson in the UFC and much more in this full media scrum video that you can watch above.