Rose Namajunas may have stolen the show at UFC Fight Night 80 by beating the heck out of Paige VanZant, but she still isn’t next in line for a shot at Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s strawweight title. That’s what UFC President Dana White said at the post-fight press conference, at least, announcing that Jedrzejczyk’s next opponent would, in fact, be Claudia Gadelha.
Dana White: Claudia Gadelha is ready to go. Claudia is healed up and ready to go, and Joanna will be the next fight.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) December 11, 2015
The announcement comes as little surprise for MMA observers. Jedrzejczyk (11-0) and Gadelha (13-1) fought to a razor-thin split decision back in 2014, with Jedrzejczyk coming out on top. She would then go on to face Carla Esparza at UFC 185 and win via TKO in Round 2 to become the new UFC strawweight champion.
Gadelha has not been as active, but she got back into the win column in August by roughing up former WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar.
The two were previously scheduled for a rematch at UFC 195, which the UFC packaged with the blockbuster UFC women’s bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm. However, when the fight was moved from January to UFC 193 in November, Gadelha was forced to withdraw, which set up Jedrzejczyk vs. Valerie Letourneau.
Unfortunately, it is unknown when or where the fight will take place. The UFC’s schedule is odd at the moment, with just two of January’s three cards fully booked and the third (UFC on Fox 18) featuring just seven fights. Past that, there are only five fights announced for the three cards in February.
Because of that, it is a mystery as to where the fight could end up. February’s UFC 196, set to be headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez, is a legitimate possibility, but it is also possible that they will push it back to April’s UFC 198 or perhaps even further.
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