Joanna Jedrzejczyk plans to challenge for the UFC strawweight title next year.
Before she does that, however, she already has a UFC title opportunity on her calendar. Jedrzejczyk will face Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event of UFC 231. The pair will contest for the vacant women’s flyweight title from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.
While Jedrzejczyk doesn’t want to overlook Shevchenko, who has bested her three times before in Muay Thai competition, it’s hard to not look at possibly making history. Should Jedrzejczyk capture the flyweight title, and come back and win the strawweight title in 2019, she could become the first-ever female dual-weight champion in UFC history.
In a recent interview, Jedrzejczyk spoke on the possibility of dropping back down to 115 pounds. She believes she won’t have any issues making the weight and would like to challenge for the strap in 2019 (via MMA News):
“Yes, I will go back. Definitely I will go back,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Somehow yes, I want to face myself, go through the weight cut again, drop to 115. I’m not having problems with the weight. I want to go through this and face the champion again.
“When I lost the belt, I was like, ‘What’s now?’ It’s been a year already. I’m happy. I have a bunch of great fans. I have a life outside the Octagon. But I want to face the champion in the strawweight division next year.”
Jedrzejczyk was once undefeated in her MMA career and one of the most dominant champions in the UFC. However, once she ran into Rose Namajunas inside the Octagon, that all changed. Namajunas defeated Jedrzejczyk via first-round TKO back in November of 2017.
She dethroned Jedrzejczyk and took the strawweight title. In their rematch this past April, Jedrzejczyk fell to Namajunas once again, this time on the judges’ scorecards. Now, with a win under her belt after besting Tecia Torres this past summer, Jedrzejczyk has the opportunity to become a champion again at UFC 231.
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