Joanna Jedrzejczyk is a former UFC strawweight champion and has competed against the elite of the women’s divisions.
The WMMA legend has fought flyweight champion and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in Valentina Shevchenko.
Jedrzejczyk has only lost to the elite of the strawweight division to the likes of current champion Rose Namajunas and former champion Zhang Weili in a close split decision. But while speaking on the “Punchin In” podcast she would shockingly reveal that someone else hits harder than them all.
“The first one (fight with Namajunas), I don’t remember. I didn’t feel the power,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I just went to sleep, but there were some things that happened before the fight. In the second fight, I felt she was hitting pretty hard, but you know who hit the hardest? Valerie Letourneau. She was the hardest puncher I have ever fought … so Valerie and then Rose. For so many years they, were only talking about (Namajunas’) grappling, how good she is on the ground, but I think her striking is top-level. Very precise, good timing and very, very strong.”
Valerie Letourneau is a former UFC fighter who now competes in Bellator.
Valerie Letourneau started her UFC career on a high note going on a three-fight win streak leading to her shot at the strawweight title.
But after her unanimous decision loss to former strawweight champion Jonna Jedrzejczyk, Letourneau couldn’t regain her previous form, resulting in a three-fight losing streak,
Letourneau signed for Bellator, she now competes in the flyweight division and won back-to-back fights before receiving her shot at the title before losing once again.
What’s next for Joanna Jedrzejczyk?
Jedrzejczyk hasn’t competed since her split decision loss to Zhang Weili back in 2020 leading to her being pulled from the rankings due to inactivity, but she has added that “I can’t complain; all the girls (ranked) from 1-10 are booked.”
As well as “So I can’t complain because it was my decision to not fight for such a long time, so I’m just training and waiting, and I think we’re just going to get the big fights. That’s it.”