Tag: Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Despite revealing recently how an injury suffered at American Top Team base prevented a return to the Octagon, former undisputed strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has now officially informed the UFC of her retirement from active competition.

Jedrzejczyk, the second strawweight champion in the history of the UFC, has been sidelined from active competition since UFC 275 back in June of last year in Singapore, suffering a stunning second round KO loss to current champion, Zhang Weili, courtesy of a spinning back-fist stoppage.

The Polish striking announced her decision to retire from active mixed martial arts competition following the stunning knockout loss to Hebei native, Zhang, however, revealed earlier this summer that she was on the verge of making a return from her hiatus – until an injury suffered in Coconut Creek, Florida, ultimately forced her to reconsider a return to the sport. 

“I was back to American Top Team at the beginning of this year, at the end of January (and) I wanted to see if I was able to be back and train really hard, and I was,” Joanna Jedrzejczyk said. “I was training really hard for two, three times a day for 13 weeks. Everyone was asking if I was coming back and coming out of retirement. Honestly, I wanted to be back. I wanted to give myself one more chance. But then my (shoulder injury) happened again, it came back with double the power it used to hurt before.”

“I got really sad,” Joanna Jedrzejczyk continued. “Very emotional. But I got calmness in my heart and soul. It’s what I was looking for, for eight months after I retired. I feel like I’m in the spot where I’m not chasing this anymore. That’s a good thing. Sad, difficult, but I feel calm. This is what I was missing the first few months after I retired.” 

Joanna Jedrzejczyk confirms retirement from MMA to UFC

However, according to a report from MMA Fighting, Jedrzejczyk, who had yet to officially confirm her retirement to the UFC – has now informed the Dana White-led organization, as she requires a surgical procedure to address a shoulder injury suffered.

Striking undisputed strawweight gold back in 2015 with a knockout win over Carla Esparza, Jedrzejczyk would then defeat Jessica Penne, Valerie Letourneau, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Jessica Andrade. 

What’s your favourite Joanna Jedrzejczyk memory?

Former undisputed strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has confirmed her plans for a permanent retirement from mixed martial arts competition despite recently claiming she was considering a comeback earlier this year, insisting she is now “calm” in ending her tenure in combat sports.

Jedrzejczyk, a former undisputed UFC strawweight champion, most recently competed on the main card of UFC 275 back in June of last year, suffering a second round spinning-back fist KO loss to fellow former champion, Zhang Weili in the pair’s championship-eliminator rematch in Singapore.

The Pole confirmed her plans for an immediate retirement from mixed martial arts competition following the defeat to two-time opponent, Weili, ending her storied stint in the sport.

However, the fan-favorite revealed recently how she had been contemplating a return to combat sports earlier this year, had suffered an injury whilst training at her native American Top Team, putting an end to those plans.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk confirms permanent retirement from MMA

And commenting on a failed comeback to the UFC this year, Joanna Jedrzejczyk admitted that while it was a difficult decision to make, she is firmly closing the door on a return to mixed martial arts.

“I was back to American Top Team at the beginning of this year, at the end of January (and) I wanted to see if I was able to be back and train really hard, and I was,” Joanna Jedrzejczyk told MMA Junkie during a recent interview. “I was training really hard for two, three times a day for 13 weeks. Everyone was asking if I was coming back and coming out of retirement. Honestly, I wanted to be back. I wanted to give myself one more chance. But then my (shoulder injury) happened again, it came back with double the power it used to hurt before.”

“I got really sad,” Joanna Jedrzejczyk continued. “Very emotional. But I got calmness in my heart and soul. It’s what I was looking for, for eight months after I retired. I feel like I’m in the spot where I’m not chasing this anymore. That’s a good thing. Sad, difficult, but I feel calm. This is what I was missing the first few months after I retired.” 

The second-ever strawweight champion in the history of the promotion, Jedrzejczyk won undisputed gold with a second round TKO win over Carla Esparza back in 2015, before turning in successful title defenses over Valerie Letourneau, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Jessica Andrade – an outstanding divisional record still. 

Former undisputed strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has revealed she was planning a stunning return from retirement this year in a return to the Octagon, however, saw initial plans for a UFC return scuppered by a long-standing injury.

Jedrzejczyk, a former undisputed strawweight champion and likely future Hall of Fame inductee, called time on her professional mixed martial arts career back in June of last year, following her second consecutive loss in a stunning spinning back-fist KO loss to former champion, Zhang Weili at UFC 274.

In the immediate aftermath of the pair’s rematch, Jedrzejczyk confirmed her decision to walk away from the sport with immediate effect, bringing down the curtain on a stunning, gold-laden professional career, which saw her boast a 16-5 record.

Since her retirement from the sport, Jedrzejczyk has, however, flirted with a potential comeback to the sport, and revealed this week that she was in line to make a return this year – returning to training at American Top Team before a significant injury suffered previously, nixed those plans. 

“I was back to American Top Team in January, because I was looking for a comeback,” Joanna Jedrzejczyk told Cageside Press during a recent interview. “But I had a really bad injury, since 2020, and it got bad, very bad. So I had to go through the surgery. I have to do physio for the next five to nine months to get back to shape, to get back to any sport.”

Joanna Jedrzejczyk holds the record for most strawweight title defenses

“I don’t want to be a coach, but i see myself helping and training with them,” Joanna Jedrzejczyk explained. “Because I will train forever and ever. I love this sport so much.” 

Winning undisputed strawweight gold against two-time champion, Carla Esparza back in 2015 with a TKO finish, Jedrzejczyk would go on to rack up a slew of successful title defenses against Jessica Penne, Valerie Letourneau, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Jessica Andrade.