In just three UFC fights, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has already established herself as a ruthless pressure fighter. It was that dauntless pressure that enabled her to flatten then-champion Carla Esparza to take the belt that she holds now, and given the grappling-heavy style of upcoming challenger Jessica Penne, it’ll likely be pressure that keeps the belt around Jedrzejczyk’s waist come this Saturday.
Those who really want to see the best that Jedrzejczyk has to offer, however, will likely have to wait for an opponent able to seriously challenge her on the feet, because some of the Polish kickboxer’s best work is done on the counter, and in open space, with her opponent willingly engaging. An eminently thoughtful fighter, Jedrzejczyk’s talent for adapting on the fly shines when her opponent can actually force her to adapt. Today we’ll take a quick look at the slick footwork and trap-setting ways of the strawweight queen.
COMING IN
For the most part, the word “footwork” evokes images of light-footed fighters deftly outmaneuvering their opponents, and we’ll certainly see a bit of that later in this write-up. But at its core, footwork means improving one’s position using the feet. Sometimes this means stepping to one side or the other, or pivoting around the opponent. Then again, not all footwork is evasive. Given the space to work, Jedrzejczyk excels at measuring the distance and stepping into her opponents–not so much that she smothers herself, but just enough to land with deceptive power.
1. Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha face off.
2. Jedrzejczyk sets Gadelha up with her quick jab–Claudia parries the punch easily enough, but now the jab is on her mind.
3. Jedrzejczyk backs up, dropping her hands slightly to invite an attack from Gadelha.
4. Sensing that the Brazilian is ready to spring, Jedrzejczyk flashes a quick jab feint toward her face.
5. As Gadelha winds up on a long, looping right hand counter, Joanna steps right up to her and gets home with a nasty left hook to the liver.
At full speed, this sneaky little hook is nearly invisible, but watching the sequence in slow motion, it’s clear that Jedrzejczyk lands with considerable force. The fact that she stepped toward her opponent, of course, doesn’t make her footwork any less defensively sound than other, more typical evasive maneuvers. By giving Gadelha a feint at long range, Jedrzejczyk was able to draw a long range attack, quickly negated by her closing of the gap. Even the punch itself is well chosen: with Gadelha’s right arm extended, the ribs over her liver are extended and exposed, ripe for the punching.
GOING AROUND
As I mentioned above, Jedrzejczyk is no stranger to side-steps and pivots. In fact, she favors footwork as her primary method of defense, using short, choppy steps to take quick angles on her opponents mid-exchange, often combining her steps with punches.
1. Again, Jedrzejczyk baits and measures with the jab.
2. She steps back, inviting Gadelha’s lead.
3. When Gadelha obliges, Jedrzejczyk takes a step to her left with her left foot (indicated with green).
4. This step gives her a weak outside angle, allowing her to land a short right uppercut to Gadelha’s jaw while moving her head out of the path of the Brazilian’s left hand.
5. Momentarily vulnerable, Joanna gets her left hand up to block a right hand or clinch attempt . . .
6. . . . and then swings her right foot around (indicated with yellow), pivoting to regain a clean, dominant angle.
7. Now Jedrzejczyk leads, throwing a distracting left-hand slap–Ernesto Hoost style–and once again stepping off line toward the outside angle.
8. This movement is followed by another short right uppercut, thrown safely inside the arc of Gadelha’s winging left hook.
9. Once again, Jedrzejczyk completes her movement with a pivot, though Gadelha reaches out to grab a clinch.
10. Because of Jedrzejczyk’s pivot, however, Gadelha doesn’t have the comfortable angle she would like, and with the help of a little shove from Joanna, her attempted knee misses the mark.
11. Mean as ever, Jedrzejczyk bulls forward . . .
12. . . . and marches right into a knee of her own, this one most certainly landing clean.
There is once again an element of in-and-out to these angles. Jedrzejczyk’s footwork is effective, not flashy. With short steps to forward and to the sides, she can simultaneously close off the distance between herself and the opponent, outmaneuver or smother the other woman’s punches, and land clean shots of her own. The dance is made all the more confusing by Jedrzejczyk’s constant shifting between leads and counters. She is just as willing to wait on an opening as she is to force it, but it’s the combination of the two that makes her simple movements so difficult to track.
STAYING ON TOP
Of course, as such a decorated striker, takedown defense has been a crucial skill for Jedrzejczyk in her young MMA career. Though her wrestling abilities were always shockingly good for a fighter from a Muay Thai and Dutch Kickboxing background, it wasn’t until recently that Jedrzejczyk’s takedown defense really seemed to start clicking. If you’ve been paying attention so far, it should come as no surprise that footwork has been one of the key ingredients to her seemingly effortless takedown defense. In fact, it wasn’t until Jedrzejczyk’s fight for the title with newly crowned champ Carla Esparza that she really seemed to put her striking movement to good use in the wrestling exchanges.
1. Jedrzejczyk measures and paws, looking for an opening on the patient Esparza.
2. A lead 1-2 gives Carla the opening she was waiting for, and she deflects the right hand overhead, changing levels . . .
3. . . . and getting in on Jedrzejczyk’s left leg.
4. Joanna’s quick sprawl is made more effective by her almost instantaneous footwork–she begins circling to her right . . .
5. . . . and keeps circling to her right, all the while keeping her right leg away from Esparza’s grasp, and therefore denying the double leg finish.
6. After a 270 degree spin, Esparza reaches out for Jedrzejczyk’s right knee, overextending herself . . .
7. . . . and giving Jedrzejczyk to chance to sprawl in the opposite direction, giving Carla a little shove along the way to break her down all the way.
8. Esparza works back to a strong underhook ,and even tries fishing for Jedrzejczyk’s left leg with her right instep, but Jedrzejczyk has a serious angle on her.
9. Joanna elects to stand, posting with her right arm to keep Esparza pinned on all fours.
10. And a quick elbow before breaking away reminds Esparza that takedown attempts don’t come free.
Jedrzejczyk’s takedown defense prior to the Esparza bout consisted of an excellent sprawl, phenomenal head positioning, and a strong understanding of grips. Whether with a tight whizzer or a deep underhook, she proved tough to take down in both of her prior UFC bouts. She did, however, find herself embroiled in prolonged grappling exchanges, with no ability to work her dangerous clinch strikes or break safely. Now, however, she seems to have fully grasped one of fighting’s most fundamental concepts: an angle is an angle. Whether grappling or striking, an angle is always an advantageous position. With some of MMA’s most effective footwork, Jedrzejczyk seems more comfortable than ever in the transition from sprawling to slugging.
Penne isn’t a bad striker by any means–rote, perhaps, but certainly capable of handling herself on the feet. For those of us simply interested in enthralling fights (that’s all of us, right?), let’s hope that Penne tries to work her crisp jabs and combinations and forces Jedrzejczyk to make a few striking adjustments. And if not, we may just be counting down the days till someone like Alexa Grasso makes her way to the UFC to give Joanna Champion a run for her money.
For more analysis, check out the latest episode of Heavy Hands, the only podcast dedicated to the finer points of face-punching. This week, UFC veteran Jason High talks guillotines, ground & pound, and the place of hard sparring in MMA training.