Joanna Jedrzejczyk is planning to fight again in 2022 and another showdown with Carla Esparza has her interested.
Esparza doesn’t seem to be in the UFC’s good graces at the moment. UFC President Dana White has publicly expressed his dismay over Esparza’s decision to try to wait for a strawweight title opportunity. The UFC boss claims he’s looking at “other options” for Rose Namajunas’ next challenger.
Joanna vs. Weili 2?
In the final UFC event pre-pandemic era, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang tore the house down in a five-round war. Speaking to Tom Taylor for South China Morning Post, Joanna said she’s unsure if she’ll have to walk through that same fire again to get a trilogy bout with Rose.
“She might be the next one, I don’t know. I don’t know how much I need the fight with Weili Zhang to get the title shot in case Rose is not ready to fight in March or April. I believe she wants to rest because she put on a hell of a performance. It was a pretty tough fight, five rounds so I bet she wants to enjoy her time as a champ and as a human. So, we will see. I don’t know what the next step is going to be.”‘
Joanna Jedrzejczyk Turns Attention To Carla Esparza
When asked about a potential rematch with Esparza, Jedrzecjzyk admitted it’s a fight that intrigues her.
“It would be an interesting fight. We have a good fighting history and she’s waiting for the title shot. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. She might get the title shot, she might not get it cause Dana is saying something different. I don’t know, I would love to fight her and if she wants to get the title shot I can fight her.”
Jedrzecjzyk made it clear that she plans on returning to the Octagon in 2022. She has not begun negotiations with the UFC at this time. Dana White recently dismissed Joanna’s desire to only fight for titles, which could explain why she now wants to face Esparza.
