History will be made on Saturday in Berlin. The first title match in the history of UFC Fight Pass will headline UFC Fight Night 69. UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will make the first defense of her title against No. 3-ranked Jessica Penne.
When: Saturday, June 20 at noon ET
Where: The O2 World in Berlin, Germany
Live Stream: UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
For those who still haven’t heard of Jedrzejczyk (and don’t know how to pronounce Jan-Jay-Chek) are in for a treat. She is an all-action fighter who makes her living as a strong stand-up fighter. In her last fight, she dethroned Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza via second-round TKO. The win was impressive, but quite honestly, Esparza looked like a beaten fighter the week of the fight.
The rigors of participating and winning The Ultimate Fighter as well as the hype and pressure of being her division’s inaugural champion had the Cookie Monster ripe for a fall. Was Jedrzejczyk simply in the right place at the proper time, or is she really a tough champion that will endure?
Penne figures to provide the champion with a test.
In an interview with Hunter Homistek of Bleacher Report, Jedrzejczyk said: “I’m going to be a Ronda Rousey in the strawweight division. They’ll call me ‘JJ’ instead of ‘RR.'”
Jedrzejczyk has already eaten up The Cookie Monster. Per her Twitter account, she’s ready to devour some Penne:
Jedrzejczyk is apparently great at playing mind games. Penne believes she “got in the head” of Esparza leading up to the bout. Per this tweet from UFC Tonight, Penne won’t let the gamesmanship faze her:
It would appear Penne has an edge in grappling, but there’s a serious question as to whether she’ll have more success taking Jedrzejczyk down than Esparza—a far more accomplished wrestler—did.
Jedrzejczyk stuffed all but one of Esparza‘s 17 attempts to take her down. If this fight is contested on the feet—as I believe it will be—Jedrzejczyk will win in another impressive display. Her striking is loose, free-flowing and not easy to predict.
She’s the real deal. Here’s a look at the rest of the card and predictions for each fight.
Siver‘s Perfect Opponent
At one point Tatsuya Kawajiri was one of the most feared and effective fighters in the lower weight classes in MMA. However, at 37 years old, the Japanese legend might be past his prime. From the looks of this image in this recent tweet, Kawajiri is in excellent shape, but that’s purely cosmetic.
Having had 43 professional fights, the wear and tear on Kawajiri is beginning to show. He lost a unanimous decision to Clay Guida—another shopworn fighter—in his last bout and he faces another opponent who has been through the ringer on Saturday in Dennis Siver.
The edge in this bout goes to Siver. Despite the fact that he has won just one of his last four fights, Siver is still an above-average striker with fierce kicks to the midsection. He has a more diverse striking game that Kawajiri and an underrated ground game.
Against most any other ranked featherweight, Siver wouldn’t be my pick, but Kawajiri is about the only ranked 145-pounder I think Siver can still beat.
Mr. Finland is Back
Raise your hand if you were waiting for the next Makwan “Mr. Finland” Amirkhani bout. He’s back after a thrilling eight-second KO of Andy Ogle in January at UFC on Fox 14 in his debut with the promotion.
Amirkhani‘s bout with Masio Fullen should last longer than eight seconds, but the 26-year-old is sure to put on another impressive display. Fullen won his UFC debut via split decision over Alex Torres in February, but he still has some work to do as it pertains to his takedown defense. Torres only succeeded in taking Fullen down twice in nine attempts, but against more experienced grapplers like Alejandro Perez, wrestlers dominated Fullen. You can see that fight in video below from Xtreme Combat TV:
Amirkhani has the diverse game to expose Fullen‘s deficiencies. Blessed with above-average natural athleticism, an advanced ground game and daring striking, Amirkhani is one to watch in the next few years.
The lightweight division is deep, but Amirkhani might have the goods to make his way up the ranks.
Fight Night 69 won’t be an event that moves the needle much with most MMA fans, but fighters like Amirkhani and Jedrzejczyk could offer a glimpse into the future of the UFC.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com