It might be ladies night on New Year’s Eve weekend.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk will likely defend her women’s strawweight title against Claudia Gadelha in the co-main event of UFC 195 on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White told Los Angeles Times reporter Lance Pugmire on Friday. UFC 195 is, of course, headlined by Ronda Rousey putting her women’s bantamweight belt on the line against Holly Holm, as Rousey announced Friday morning on Good Morning America.
Jedrzejczyk’s co-manager Tiago Okamura confirmed with MMAFighting.com that the UFC wants Jedrzejczyk at UFC 195, but nothing is official yet. White told the LA Times that the fight hinges on Gadelha’s recovery from a broken finger
Jedrzejczyk defeated Gadelha by split decision at UFC on FOX 13 last December in a close fight that many thought Gadelha won.
The undefeated Jedrzejczyk (10-0) has won all four of her fights in the UFC, including a second-round TKO of Carla Esparza to win the title at UFC 185 in March. The Poland native is coming off a third-round TKO over Jessica Penne in June. Jedrzejczyk, 28, is an expert Muay Thai striker, who has drawn popularity through her charisma and ability to finish opponents in violent style.
Gadelha (13-1) is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190 earlier this month. Her lone career loss came against Jedrzejczyk last year. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt is 2-1 in the UFC and has been thought of as one of the top two or three women’s 115-pounders in the world for a few years. Gadelha, 26, trains out of Nova Uniao in Rio de Janeiro with the likes of Jose Aldo and Renan Barao.
No other bouts have been announced yet for UFC 195, though White also said he’d like Miesha Tate to meet Amanda Nunes on the card as well.