Last night marked Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s third strawweight title defence. The 28-year-old, who fought Claudia Gadhela at The Ultimate Fighter 23 finale, took home a unanimous decision and cemented her spot as the most dominant 115-pound fighter in the world.
The Polish standout is ranked at No. 12 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings but doesn’t think she’s surpassed Ronda Rousey.
“I don’t know,” Jedrzejczyk told MMAjunkie when asked if she thought she was the best women’s fighter in the world at the post-fight press conference. “I’m waiting for Ronda Rousey. For me, she’s still the No. 1 and deserves to be the No. 1. She was the first one, and believe me, guys, she will be back soon.”
‘Rowdy’, who competes in the bantamweight division and lost her belt to Holly Holm at UFC 193, has long been considered the most dominant female athlete on the UFC roster. Before losing to Holm, Rousey defended her title six times and won five of those bouts in the first round.
While ‘Joanna Champion’ doesn’t quite match Rousey’s tenacity, the Muay Thai-based fighter breaks her opponents down with a high volume of strikes. After struggling in the opening rounds against Gadhela, Jedrzejczyk began chipping away at the Brazilian and eventually overwhelmed her opponent with a series of punches, kicks and elbows.
It’s expected that Jedrzejczyk will defend her title against the winner of Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Rose Namajunas by the end of the year.
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