The former women’s strawweight champion hasn’t competed since March 2020.
It has been 19 months since Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s legendary strawweight title clash with Zhang Weili, but we have not seen the Polish striker in the Octagon since that UFC 248 showdown.
As a result of that inactivity, MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn reported on Monday that Jedrzejczyk has been pulled from the UFC rankings. It looks as if the target date for her return to competition is in March, two full years after the split decision loss to Zhang.
Jedrzejczyk (16-4) won the 115 lbs belt in 2015 against Carla Esparza and made five successful defenses before her stunning KO loss to Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 in 2017. She lost the rematch at UFC 223, notched a win over Tecia Torres, then unsuccessfully challenged for the vacant flyweight title against current champ Valentina Shevchenko. Prior to the loss to Zhang, Joanna took a five-round decision over Michelle Waterson.
We haven’t heard a lot from Joanna in recent times, but last year when she targeted a 2021 return she indicated it’d have to be in front of fans. Earlier this year she stated her want of better pay, and that she wanted a title shot upon her return.
Meanwhile, Zhang Weili is set to rematch Rose Namajunas for what is now Rose’s title at UFC 268 on November 6th.