Former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk suffered her first career loss at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden this past November. She was knocked out in the first round by Rose Namajunas, and subsequently dropped the women’s strawweight title which was in her possession for more than two years. Prior to the loss, she had gone undefeated for 14 fights, including five strawweight title defenses.
A striking specialist Jedrzejczyk says she will carry the Olympic torch in a relay through her home country of Poland for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“It’s a huge honor. MKOL (International Olympic Committee) decided that me, as a representative of mixed martial arts will carry the Olympic fire,” Jedrzejczyk said during a radio interview in Poland (h/t MMANYTT). “MMA is far away from being Olympic competition, so it’s huge merit for me to represent our country on so huge international area. I’m very happy with that.”
Jedrzejczyk will be the second UFC fighter to carry the torch, as Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also carried the flame for his home country of Brazil in summer of 2016. MMA great Fedor Emelianenko has also carried the torch for his native Russia in the past.
After suffering a loss to Rose, she’s been campaigning for another shot at UFC gold, whether it comes in a rematch against Namajunas or a matchup against another champion.
Who do you want to see Joanna fight next? Should she fight Namajunas in the rematch or move on to another fight?
