Former UFC strawweight champion Joanna J?drzejczyk has spoken out for the first time since her post-UFC 275 retirement announcement.
J?drzejczyk announced that she was hanging up the gloves just minutes after her knockout loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275. She made her return to the Octagon after a two-year hiatus since her first matchup with Weili.
J?drzejczyk is arguably one of the greatest female fighters in the sport’s history and her retirement came as a shock almost universally amongst fans and pundits.
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, J?drzejczyk opened up about the thought process that came with deciding to retire.
“It is [done], for now it is,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I always promised myself if I leave this sport, I will leave it forever. It’s hard but sometimes I wake up and in the morning I’m like I would love to be back. Why am I doing this? That’s the hard part. For now, I’m done. I’m very happy.
“I’m flying to Vegas tomorrow, I hope I will sit and talk to Dana [White] and [American Top Team owner] Dan Lambert as well,” J?drzejczyk continued. “I’m really looking forward to seeing all of them and talk to all of them and talk about the future a little bit. I need to stick to my decision because there is so many things which are making me go more into this sport and even keep on fighting but like I said, health is most important. I’m not having any issues like I’m hiding something. I’m not having any issues.”
J?drzejczyk challenged for the strawweight title against Carla Esparza at UFC 185. After earning the belt, she went on to defend the title five times before suffering back-to-back losses to Rose Namajunas.
While J?drzejczyk will almost certainly miss competition, she seems set in her decision to walk away and move on to new challenges.
What is your reaction to Joanna J?drzejczyk’s comments about her retirement?
Continue Reading J?drzejczyk Reveals The Promise To Herself About MMA Retirement at MMA News.