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Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is desperately trying to lock down her next shot at UFC gold and prove that she’s still championship worthy.
Jedrzejczyk, who held the 115-pound title from 2015-2017, has been trying to get her belt back ever since she was upset by Rose Namajunas back at UFC 217. Her search for UFC gold also landed her in a women’s flyweight title fight opposite pound-for-pound great Valentina Shevchenko, who handily beat Joanna over the course of 25 minutes.
After defeating Michelle Waterson at UFC Tampa this past October, Jedrzejczyk was hoping to earn a shot at current UFC women’s strawweight queen Weili Zhang. While the matchup has incredible potential for an all-out striking war between two of the best female fighters in the world today, Zhang showed little interest in the fight. The UFC champ even went as far as saying Jedrzejczyk is ‘not the fighter she used to be.”
Jedrzejczyk, who is one of the more outspoken fighters in today’s MMA, is not going away quietly. Even if Zhang initially turned down a fight with Jedrzejczyk the former champion is going to continue to lobby for her next title shot.
“I signed an agreement before the fight with Michelle Waterson,” Jedrzejczyk told South China Morning Post. “I knew that after I got the victory I was going to fight for the belt. This is what’s going to happen next, and I’m just waiting for the date and the location, and then we’re going to rock it.”
“Anywhere, anytime,” she added. “Bangkok, Sri Lanka, Warsaw, Toronto, it doesn’t matter where. For me, it doesn’t matter. I will make my way. Even if we have to take a canoe, I will make it to China and beat the s*** out of her.”
Zhang, 30, burst onto the MMA scene this past August at UFC Shenzhen when she put her 19-fight win streak on the line to take out then women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade with a 42-second TKO finish (see it again HERE). It was an incredible performance to say the least, especially considering it was Zhang’s first main event spot and it happened to come against one of the most intimidating fighters in women’s strawweight history.
With the gold belt wrapped around her waist heading into 2020, Zhang is going to be able to pick and chose her next steps. But if she wants to take her newfound notoriety to an entirely new level and became as big of a star in America as she is in China then maybe a matchup with Jedrzejczyk is the right move to make.