- Joanna Jedrzejczyk sees herself becoming the UFC strawweight champion once again
- The Polish MMA star plans to take Weili Zhang first before competing with Carla Esparza for the title
It has been four years since Joanna Jedrzejczyk last held the UFC women’s strawweight belt and as expected, her eyes have been locked on it since then. Her focus has been to get her title back and avenge her back-to-back defeats to Rose Namajunas. And though Carla Esparza has become the new champion, Jedrzejczyk’s stance on the matter has not changed one bit.
Joanna wants her throne back
Jedrzejczyk didn’t miss the action between Namajunas and Esparza at UFC 274. Like many of us, the former strawweight champion was also puzzled by how the fight went down.
Regardless of the outcome, Jedrzejczyk reckoned that after witnessing Esparza fought seven years since she TKO’d “Cookie Monster,” the Polish MMA star is certain she will get the better of the current champ once again.
“I don’t know what happened, but when you feel – that first round wasn’t good. The second wasn’t, and sometimes you have to do something to get the victory,” Jedrzejczyk told reporters on Monday’s UFC 275 media day via MMA Junkie. “Even paying a big price. But I don’t know what happened. Til the end of the fight I thought Rose got it, but no. Like Carla, I really thought she was going to look better. I was like, ‘This girl is going to look better. She has so many win streak.’ But for me, she looked the same as when we fought for the belt seven years ago in Dallas. And history likes to make a circle. And soon (I’m) to be the champ.”
One rematch at a time
Despite brimming with confidence, Jedrzejczyk is well aware that she must first score a huge win over Weili Zhang at UFC 275 before possibly catapulting to title contention.
“Before I accept the fight with Weili Zhang, I knew that I was going to fight for the belt,” the former champion stressed. “After the first fight with Weili Zhang, I knew that I was going to be the next one in line. Sometimes it takes time and other girls have to fight for the belt as well and I Just wanted to be back. Here we go, we have a big fight. Fighting Weili Zhang for the second time is a big motivation for the me because I can be better every single day.”
Jedrzejczyk vs. Zhang I was considered by many as the greatest women’s fight in the history of MMA. With that in mind, a victory over the Chinese MMA star could certainly increases Jedrzejczyk’s chance of getting a crack at UFC gold.
