Tag: Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Shevchenko Sheds Deep Insight On Joanna J?drzejczyk’s Legacy

Former strawweight champion Joanna J?drzejczyk has received an outpouring of support after her retirement at UFC 275, and one of her greatest rivals has weighed in on the Polish striker’s legacy. Speaking at the post-fight press conference following her narrow split-decision win over Taila Santos, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko was asked to reflect on Joanna’s…

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Former strawweight champion Joanna J?drzejczyk has received an outpouring of support after her retirement at UFC 275, and one of her greatest rivals has weighed in on the Polish striker’s legacy.

Speaking at the post-fight press conference following her narrow split-decision win over Taila Santos, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko was asked to reflect on Joanna’s career.

“I think about Joanna that she’s (a true) martial artist,” Shevchenko said. “And she’s been in martial arts for so many years, and it’s amazing. She’s an amazing example for many people, an inspiration for many women to do martial arts, to be successful, to be powerful. “

J?drzejczyk has received well-wishes from all across the MMA world after UFC 275, but few are as qualified to speak on her legacy as Shevchenko. The two faced each other several times in Muay Thai competition, and their MMA careers finally overlapped at UFC 231.

“And you know, in our lives, we have this person who we are going parallel all the time. (I’ve known) Joanna since 2006. This is the first time when we fought together. We every time was opponents: in my Muay Thai career — even here, in the UFC, we had a fight.”

Shevchenko won a unanimous decision in their bout at UFC 231 and captured the flyweight title that she’s now defended 7 times. Regardless of the outcomes when they fought, Shevchenko thinks that her battles with Joanna cultivated a mutual respect over the years.

“But this rivalry, it’s made us gain respect (for) each other. I know how hard she’s worked. I know how dedicated she (is) as a person. And I just have true respect (for) her, and she deserve all love (from) the fans. And it’s another chapter of her career, and I think she will (have) the same success as she (had) in martial arts.”

What do you think of Shevchenko’s comments on Joanna’s legacy as a fighter and champion?

Continue Reading Shevchenko Sheds Deep Insight On Joanna J?drzejczyk’s Legacy at MMA News.

Video: Watch Weili Zhang Brutal Spinning Backfist KO Over Joanna Jedrzejczyk From New Cageside Angle

Weili Zhang, Joanna JedrzejczykWeili Zhang came out on top in her highly anticipated rematch with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. This past weekend, Weili Zhang ran back her bout with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275. Jedrzejczyk was marking her return to action after a two-year hiatus since last competing against Weili in March 2020. Their first contest made for an incredible […]

Weili Zhang, Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Weili Zhang came out on top in her highly anticipated rematch with Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

This past weekend, Weili Zhang ran back her bout with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275. Jedrzejczyk was marking her return to action after a two-year hiatus since last competing against Weili in March 2020.

Their first contest made for an incredible showing and was awarded The Fight of the Year. It also broke the record for the most significant strikes landed (combined) in a women’s UFC fight. Although Weili won the bout by a split decision, fans were clamoring to have the pair go at it again in one of the most highly awaited rematches.

As for their second outing, the two ladies got off to a fiery start with both going in for the kill. Weili would eventually connect with a brutal spinning back fist elbow to knock out Jedrejczyk halfway through round two. There were videos of the highlight reel finish going around online but there’s footage from a different angle that popped up recently.

Watch: New angle of Weili Zhang KO’ing Joanna Jedrzejczyk

In the video, shot cage side, the brutal knockout can be seen from a more intimate look as Jedrejczyk crashed down to the canvas and the focus stayed on her.

The former UFC women’s Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk left her gloves inside the octagon to signal her retirement. During the post-fight press conference, she would announce an end to one of the most legendary careers in MMA.

Jedrzejczyk is an icon in Poland and has greatly helped advance women’s MMA. Having won the promotional gold in just her third outing, she also defended it five times in a row.

In a professional career spanning a decade, Jedrzejczyk leaves the sport with a record of 16-5 with her only losses coming to fellow strawweight champions Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang, and to the reigning UFC women’s Flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko.

Kowalkiewicz Pens Touching Message Following J?drzejczyk’s Retirement

UFC strawweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz shared a heartfelt post on social media following Joanna J?drzejczyk’s retirement announcement. Kowalkiewicz and J?drzejczyk were once bitter rivals in the strawweight division as the two Polish combatants squared off for the title at UFC 205. J?drzejczyk successfully defended her belt against Kowalkiewicz via a unanimous decision. While J?drzejczyk and Kowalkiewicz…

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UFC strawweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz shared a heartfelt post on social media following Joanna J?drzejczyk’s retirement announcement.

Kowalkiewicz and J?drzejczyk were once bitter rivals in the strawweight division as the two Polish combatants squared off for the title at UFC 205. J?drzejczyk successfully defended her belt against Kowalkiewicz via a unanimous decision.

While J?drzejczyk and Kowalkiewicz had their fair share of bad blood ahead of their past UFC title fight, they’ve buried the hatchet in recent years. J?drzejczyk also helped train Kowalkiewicz for her last fight down at American Top Team in Florida.

J?drzejczyk’s UFC career came to a close this past weekend following a knockout loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275. She announced her retirement in her post-fight interview and seems content with moving forward in life away from the Octagon.

In a recent Instagram post, Kowalkiewicz congratulated her fellow countrywoman on her success.

“I was number 2 practically for my entire sports career. It doesn’t bother me, on the contrary, I am proud of it, because you were and for me you will always be number 1,” Kowalkiewicz wrote of her former foe J?drzejczyk. “You are a legend. You wrote a beautiful and inspiring story. You are not only a great athlete who accomplished the impossible, but also a wonderful person. When our relationship was not the best, I needed help … I called you and although you did not have to help me, I could count on you.

“You are great not only in the octagon, but also in life. Now use it to the fullest. I wish you the best with all my heart.”

Despite J?drzejczyk’s fighting tenure concluding, she’s hinted at sticking around the sport for the foreseeable future. Following UFC 275, she hinted at pursuing a career in management and helping fighters move up in the sport’s hierarchy.

As for Kowalkiewicz, she recently snapped a five-fight losing skid with a win over Felice Herrig earlier this month. She’s picked up wins over the likes of Rose Namajunas, Randa Markos, and Jodie Esquibel during her career.

J?drzejczyk leaves the UFC as one of the greatest fighters in the promotion’s history, and at one point was thought of as one of the most dominant forces in the sport.

What are your thoughts on Karolina Kowalkiewicz’s message following Joanna J?drzejczyk’s retirement?

Continue Reading Kowalkiewicz Pens Touching Message Following J?drzejczyk’s Retirement at MMA News.

J?drzejczyk Reveals What’s Next For Her In The MMA World

Newly retired Joanna J?drzejczyk has revealed she has aspirations of becoming an MMA manager. J?drzejczyk announced her MMA retirement following her loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275 on Saturday. The 34-year-old showed glimpses of her former self in the fight but struggled to deal with Zhang’s strength and power. She was ultimately knocked out…

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Newly retired Joanna J?drzejczyk has revealed she has aspirations of becoming an MMA manager.

J?drzejczyk announced her MMA retirement following her loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275 on Saturday. The 34-year-old showed glimpses of her former self in the fight but struggled to deal with Zhang’s strength and power. She was ultimately knocked out cold by a stunning spinning backfist from Weili in round two.

The loss was Joanna’s fifth in her last seven fights, extending a poor stretch of form that commenced after losing her strawweight title to Rose Namajunas in 2017. The Pole lost to Namajunas yet again the following year, before racking up losses to Valentina Shevchenko and back-to-back defeats to Zhang.

Joanna J?drzejczyk Zhang
PHOTO: ZUFFA

J?drzejczyk Shares Her Post-Retirement Plans

For many, J?drzejczyk will go down as one of the greatest women’s strawweight fighters of all time. Starting her pro MMA career in 2012, Joanna entered the UFC just over two years later, capturing the strawweight title in her third fight with the promotion. She went on to defend her title five times, defeating the likes of Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Jéssica Andrade in the process.

J?drzejczyk has certainly experienced all the highs and lows of an MMA career. And speaking at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference, Joanna said she now plans to leverage this experience to help fighters grow their careers.

“In the future, I want to be the best manager I can be, learning from the best, Jennifer Goldstein, my manager, CAA Combat Sports; Dan Lambert, the owner of ATT. So I want to be around. Rose, let’s get some training,” said J?drzejczyk, before laughing.

So, we’re likely to see Joanna remain in the MMA world for some time to come. And the former champ says she has no problem stepping away from the spotlight to see a new generation of fighters take her place.

“And yeah, I want to be around the sport, of course,” said J?drzejczyk. “This is who I am. This is what made me. I was born to be the UFC champion, and I was. I took my chance, I got as much, and it’s time for the second generation.”

What do you think of Joanna J?drzejczyk’s plan to become an MMA manager?

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Israel Adesanya Reacts To UFC 275 Card, ‘Violent’ Joanna Jedrzejczyk KO Loss

Israel AdesanyaUFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has provided his live reaction to last weekend’s UFC 275 card in Singapore – as well as sharing his thoughts on a “violent” knockout loss suffered by Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her spinning back-fist finish defeat against fellow former champion, Zhang Weili. Adesanya, who himself is set to return to the […]

Israel Adesanya

UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has provided his live reaction to last weekend’s UFC 275 card in Singapore – as well as sharing his thoughts on a “violent” knockout loss suffered by Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her spinning back-fist finish defeat against fellow former champion, Zhang Weili.

Adesanya, who himself is set to return to the Octagon next month in the main event of UFC 276 during International Fight Week – draws the surging #2 ranked contender, Jared Cannonier at the T-Mobile Arena. 

Israel Adesanya successfully landed his fourth title defense back in February at UFC 271

Making his second Octagon walk of the year, the Nigerian-Kiwi headlined UFC 271 back in February in a title rematch against former titleholder, Robert Whittaker – scoring a unanimous decision win in the pair’s title re-run. 

Sharing his thoughts on the UFC 275 card in Singapore over the course of the weekend, Adesanya described former strawweight champion, Weili’s spectacular second round spinning back-fist knockout win over fellow former champion, Jedrzejczyk as “violent”. 

“Wow, that was violent,” Israel Adesanya said during a reaction video on his official YouTube channel. “That was violent. That was violent.”

Following her brutal knockout defeat, Jedrzejczyk announced her retirement from professional; mixed martial arts with immediate effect – with Adesanya congratulating the Pole on a splendid professional run.

“Joanna (Jedrzejczyk), appreciate you, and I get it (retirement),” Israel Adesanya said. “It’s been a long time in the game, go live your life and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.” (Transcribed by SportsKeeda)

Amongst other notable victories for Oceania came in the form of knockout successes for both Jake Matthews and Jack Dell Maddelena, who stopped Ramzan Emeev, and Andre Fialho with a pair of blistering knockout wins, respectively. 

Adesanya also joked that UFC color commentator, Michael Bisping was “racist”, when the former champion recalled Nick Diaz’s gogoplata submission win over Takanori Gomi – mistaking Gomi for Akihiro Gono.

“That was racist, Mike (Michael Bisping) that was racist,” Israel Adesanya joked. “You damn colonizer. Takahiro Gono – something like that, Sasimi.”

J?drzejczyk Gives Very Confident Prediction For Esparza Vs. Zhang

Joanna J?drzejczyk has picked Weili Zhang to get it done against Carla Esparza if the duo are to meet in a championship bout. In a rematch of their highly memorable 2020 fight, J?drzejczyk lost to Zhang via KO at UFC 275 last night. The 34-year-old was overmatched by the Chinese fighter from the outset. Zhang…

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Joanna J?drzejczyk has picked Weili Zhang to get it done against Carla Esparza if the duo are to meet in a championship bout.

In a rematch of their highly memorable 2020 fight, J?drzejczyk lost to Zhang via KO at UFC 275 last night. The 34-year-old was overmatched by the Chinese fighter from the outset. Zhang took J?drzejczyk down multiple times in round one, landing a series of brutal elbows from on top. Then in the second round, Zhang unleashed a spinning backfist to knock Joanna out cold.

Having lost five of her last seven fights, J?drzejczyk took off her gloves and announced her retirement from MMA in her post-fight Octagon interview. The Pole ends her UFC run with a 10-5 record, having fought in the promotion since 2014.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk Zhang
PHOTO: GETTY

J?drzejczyk Backs Weili Zhang To Defeat Carla Esparza

Having fought Zhang on two occasions and felt the raw power and athleticism of the 32-year-old, J?drzejczyk knows a thing or two about how good Zhang is.

When asked at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference who would get their hand raised in a potential fight between Zhang and strawweight champ Carla Esparza, Joanna answered without hesitation.

“First round for Weili Zhang,” said J?drzejczyk. “She’s so strong. Yeah, first round.”

Weili Zhang Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Once a rival of Zhang, now seemingly an admirer, J?drzejczyk paid tribute to the Chinese fighter’s power and striking.

“She really surprised me with her strength (on the) ground,” said Joanna. “Because we know she’s a striker, but she was very strong on the ground. Very beautiful work. Very beautiful work.”

J?drzejczyk also has firsthand knowledge of what Esparza brings to the table, having defeated her in 2015 to win the title. That was, however, long before Esparza’s current six-fight win streak. But Joanna still feels Zhang will get it done if the duo are to meet soon.

“So it’s going to be an interesting fight, but I truly believe that Weili’s going to be becoming the champ,” said J?drzejczyk.

Do you think Joanna J?drzejczyk is right to pick Weili Zhang over Carla Esparza?

Continue Reading J?drzejczyk Gives Very Confident Prediction For Esparza Vs. Zhang at MMA News.