If you still haven’t figured out how to say Joanna Jedrzejczyk‘s name, it might be time to figure it out. The Polish striker successfully defended her title at UFC 211 with a unanimous-decision win over Jessica Andrade in the evening’s co-main event Saturday in Dallas.
UFC on Fox had the scores from the lopsided decision:
The first frame had all the signs of a great fight forming. Both fighters had success doing what they do best. Jedrzejczyk peppered Andrade with jabs and kicks from the outside, but Andrade’s aggressive forward movement allowed her to land heavy hooks to the head.
Andrade’s strength was also evident early on as she picked up and slammed the champion to the mat. The UFC passed along the highlight:
Former Jedrzejczyk opponent and rival Claudia Gadelha provided some insight into what it’s like to fight the champion after the first round:
The difference in movement between the two fighters highlighted the second round. Andrade’s flurries from the first frame started to miss more regularly as she continued to chase Jedrzejczyk, and the champion simply circled away and peppered her with shots from the outside.
Although the round was mostly one-sided for the champ, the UFC provided the highlights from a close end to the round:
Former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub weighed in on the champion’s masterful striking:
As usual, Jedrzejczyk’s use of range and space was just too much for Andrade to handle. RJ Clifford of SiriusXM summed up the difference between the two rather nicely:
As the disparity grew in the later rounds, it became obvious that two things were on display: Joanna Champion’s excellence and Andrade’s toughness. Damon Martin of Fox Sports gave props to Andrade for continuing to go at the champion despite getting countered at every opportunity:
Toughness can only take someone so far, though. Jedrzejczyk’s skill was simply too much to overcome as she showcased why she’s the undisputed champion of her division.
The win marks yet another notch in the belt for the dynamic Jedrzejczyk. After beating inaugural women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza in 2014, she has taken the division and run with it, reeling off five successful title defenses.
For Jedrzejczyk, it’s just the beginning of what she hopes will be a career that puts her among the best female fighters of all time.
“I know what I want from myself and what I can expect from myself. I want to be the first female fighter to hold two belts,” Jedrzejczyk said, per Mike Bohn of Rolling Stone. “First I want to reach the record of Ronda Rousey. She had six successful title defenses, which is a pretty big deal to me. I want to be an undefeated champion and retire undefeated. It’s not going to be easy.”
With title defenses, Jedrzejczyk now has the first part of her plan in reach. Just one more defense and she will match Rousey’s mark.
Given her win over Andrade, it’s hard to envision her not successfully defending the belt at least once more.
In her time in the UFC, the champion has shown little in the way of weaknesses in the cage. However, Gadelha was able to push Jedrzejczyk with her grinding wrestling game and strength. Ostensibly, Andrade was the one who could have taken that to another level.
A former bantamweight, Andrade had the size and strength advantage, but Jedrzejczyk still found a way to get through this challenge.
The second part of Jedrzejczyk‘s plan is much more attainable than it once was now, too.
According to Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting, The Ultimate Fighter 26 will crown the first women’s flyweight champion.
With a weight class now just 10 pounds up for the Jedrzejczyk, the reality of being a two-division champion isn’t far-fetched. It’s a probability.
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