Joanna Jedrzejczyk: 5 Defining Moments

Champions are often remembered not for how they deal with success but for how they cope with failure. Into that unfamiliar territory Joanna Jedrzejczyk now steps.

The Polish muay Thai machine will challenge Rose Namajunas for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight title in the UFC 223 co-main event this Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (now available on Amazon Prime). It serves as a rematch to their unforgettable encounter at UFC 217 some five months ago, when Namajunas dethroned the previously undefeated Jedrzejczyk in a first-round technical knockout. “Joanna Champion” was 14-0 at the time and had won all eight of her bouts inside the Octagon, looking virtually unbeatable in doing so. Jedrzejczyk did not have to wait long for her shot at redemption.

In a career with plenty of defining moments from which to choose, here are five that stand out:

1. Striking Gold

Jedrzejczyk took out Carla Esparza with second-round punches to claim the women’s strawweight championship in the UFC 185 co-main event on March 14, 2015 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Esparza succumbed to an accumulation of blows 4:17 into Round 2, her five-fight winning streak snapped in decisive fashion. Jedrzejczyk denied all but one of the Team Oyama rep’s takedown attempts, trapping her on the feet. Esparza grew increasingly desperate, as hopelessness and fatigue set in. By the time the second round arrived, she was little more than a sitting duck. Jedrzejczyk fired away with grisly right hands and stinging jabs, slowly wearing down the Californian. With less than a minute remaining in the frame, she backed up Esparza with a right hand and swarmed with a brutal volley for the finish. The win made Jedrzejczyk the first Polish fighter to win a UFC title and just the third European to do so, joining Bas Rutten and Andrei Arlovski.

2. A Chief Rival Vanquished

A woman without equal at 115 pounds, Jedrzejczyk improved to 12-0, turned away her chief rival for a second time and retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight title, as she captured a unanimous verdict over Nova Uniao standout Claudia Gadelha in “The Ultimate Fighter 23” Finale headliner on July 8, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Judges struck scorecards of 48-46, 48-45 and 48-46. Gadelha forced the champion to deal with genuine adversity for two-plus rounds. She dropped Jedrzejczyk with a jab early in the first, pursued a merciless clinch and completed four takedowns. However, the Brazilian pushed a pace she could not keep across 25 minutes. Jedrzejczyk kept frustration at bay and started to seize control in the middle stanza before hitting the gas in the third and fourth rounds. According to FightMetric figures, Jedrzejczyk landed more than three times as many significant strikes as the challenger -- 146 to 40 -- over the final three frames.

3. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

A violent whirlwind of skill, speed and technique, Jedrzejczyk turned away another challenger, as she claimed a unanimous decision from Karolina Kowalkiewicz and retained the women’s strawweight title in a UFC 205 showcase on Nov. 12, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The unbeaten champion battered Kowalkiewicz with leg kicks, crisp punching combinations and standing elbows in the clinch. Jedrzejczyk was briefly dazed in the fourth round, where a clean right hand to the face buckled her knees. She withstood Kowalkiewicz’s bid to finish, cleared her head and picked up where she left off. By the time it was over, Jedrzejczyk had connected on 171 of her 360 attempted significant strikes; her fellow Pole had landed just 50 of 220.

4. Threat Quelled

Jedrzejczyk pitched another mesmerizing shutout, as she retained the women’s strawweight championship with a clear-cut unanimous decision over Jessica Andrade in the UFC 211 co-main event on May 13, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Jedrzejczyk swept the scorecards with 50-45, 50-44 and 50-45 marks from the judges. Andrade had the will but not the means with which to dethrone the champion. Jedrzejczyk developed a hematoma on her forehead in the first round but made certain virtually everything else went her way. She utilized a punishing jab, attacked the challenger’s base with kicks to the lower leg and mixed in blinding punching combinations to the body and head, drawing her further down the rabbit hole with each passing minute. Even when Andrade closed the distance and clinched with the American Top Team superstar, she was met with knees to the body and short standing elbows. The outcome was never in doubt, the defeat snapping a three-fight winning streak for Andrade.

5. The Fall

Namajunas turned the mixed martial arts world upside down, as she took care of Jedrzejczyk with first-round punches to capture the undisputed women’s strawweight championship at UFC 217 on Nov. 4, 2017. Jedrzejczyk bowed out 3:03 into Round 1, suffering her first defeat as a professional in a remarkable upset before a stunned crowd of 18,201 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Namajunas was measured and confident. She got Jedrzejczyk’s attention early, when she floored the off-balance Pole with an overhand right. Moments later, Namajunas decked the champion with a vicious left hook and pounced with follow-up punches until the job was done. Jedrzejczyk had been a -640 favorite at one point.

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