Joanna Jedrzejczyk finds herself in a tricky position in the UFC’s strawweight division. She says that she plans on only returning to fight Rose Namajunas, or Zhang Weili.
As the former champion, Joanna was one of the most dominant female fighters in the UFC’s history. Since losing the belt, she has fought for two division’s titles, and while she came up short both times, she put on one of the greatest fights of all time with then-champ Zhang Weili.
Ahead of Zhang’s title defense against Rose Namajunas, Jedrzejczyk called for a fight against the winner of that fight, despite not having fought since losing to the Chinese fighter. In the end, things got even more complicated for her when Rose won the fight, someone that has already beaten the Jedrzejvzyk twice.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk Predicted Rosę Would Win
Despite the fact that this was not the outcome that was best for her career, Joanna Jedrzejczyk claims that she predicted that Rose would be victorious against Zhang. She said as much when speaking in a recent interview.
Aside from that, Jedrzejczyk says that she does not feel like Rose winning lessens her chances to fight for the belt. In fact, this is something she thinks is quite possible, given how their second fight went.
“The UFC was streaming me watching this fight from my house in Poland, and I said that, first round for Rose, and it happened,” Joanna said.
“Of course there is a big possibility of me facing Rose. But she’s the champ and she’s throwing the cards right now. So let’s see when she wants to fight next. That is the most important thing.
“She deserves the time off. She became the champ for the second time, and she deserves what she wants,” Joanna added.
That said, if they do fight for a third time, Jedrzejczyk is not sure what to do different against Namajunas. She says that in their second fight, she gave her all and it was not enough, so she is not sure what to add to her gameplan.
“I don’t know (what to do differently), because I put on a hell of a performance in our rematch. I was not able to compete on the highest level when we met for the first time… because of the bad weight cut I had. Rose knocked me out, and she won that fight clearly,” Joanna said.
“I put on a hell of a long camp before the rematch. It was a long 12 weeks of hard training. But I don’t know, it’s all about the better plan.The better plan than I had last time.
“I’m more smart now. I’ve had a few fights with good fighters, good opponents. There’s more videos to watch and study Rose, Rose’s style one more time.”
Only Returning For Two People
Of course, Joanna Jedrzejczyk would take a title shot and a third fight with Rose Namajunas, but some feel that she needs to have a number one contender fight before getting another crack at UFC gold. This is something she is willing to do, but only if it is one other person.
If she can not get the third bout with Rose, Jedrzejczyk is willing to return for a rematch with the now-former champ Zhang Weili. Other than that, she has no plans on fighting anybody else.
“(Fighting Weili) is also an option,” Joanna said. “It’s not like I want revenge on Weili Zhang, but since I started my relationship with martial arts, I always wanted to put on a hell of a performance and always fight the best, and Weili Zhang is one of the greatest.
“I can see our second fight, because people want to see this fight. That’s it. But there has to be big money. There has to be big money. I just want to fight the best… I’m only interested in big fights, with Weili Zhang or Rose Namajunas.”
Do you think Joanna Jedrzejczyk will get another crack at the UFC title? Would you rather see her fight Rose Namajunas or Zhang Weili?
