Joanna Jedrzejczyk suffered the first loss of her mixed marital arts (MMA) career at UFC 217 a few weeks ago after Rose Namajunas knocked her out in the very first round, taking her Strawweight strap in the process.
But after building up the division and defending the title five straight times before suffering defeat, “JJ” says she is set to get an immediate rematch against “Thug Rose.”
“I already spoke to the UFC, and my return is set,” Jedrzejczyk said to InTheCagePL as translated by Fan Sided. “My next fight will be for the title belt. I don’t know if Rose is going to want to fight in a month, in January or in February. I’ll spend the next two months in Poland with my family,” add Joanna.
Indeed, it isn’t out of the ordinary for the promotion to grant a champions who has dominated the division for so long a chance to reclaim the strap in his or her next fight following a loss, as was the case with Ronda Rousey.
Taking nothing away from Rose’s win, Joanna says her foe was as shocked s anyone from the result of that fateful night inside Madison Square Garden. And though she may now be the owner of the belt, Rose will never be the true queen of the division, according to the Polish-born fighter.
“Rose was very shocked, like the rest of the world,” she said. “Like I’ve said, she won in a beautiful fashion, but the belt is mine. I’ve built this weight class. I’m the queen of this weight class and I always will be. You can believe it or not.”
Jedrzejczyk has proclaimed to reclaim her belt at all costs, but give how easily Rose made it look against the once seemingly unbeatable champion, she will be riding high with confidence going into the rematch.
Then again, depending on the respective fighters timetables, there is no telling when they want to return, which means Rose may fight some
Then again, this other top contender may have a thing or three to say about who Joanna faces next.