Joanna Jędrzejczyk Reacts to UFC Hall of Fame Entry, Battling the Itch to Fight Again

Joanna Jedrzejczyk is now a UFC Hall-of-Famer. 

Nearly two years into her retirement, the former UFC Strawweight Champion was caught off guard when her face popped on the big screen at UFC 299 over the weekend.

Jedrzejczyk (16-5) quickly learned this wasn't your typical celebrity cameo. No, this was something far greater.

"It just blew my mind and I was crying like a baby because I was not expecting the introduction into the hall of fame," Jedrzejczyk said on 'The MMA Hour' of the induction announcement. "I'm just super happy trying get back to shape."

The 36 year-old relives the surreal moment that saw the crowd at the Kaseya Center in Miami turn to her in celebration.

"When I saw the video, and so I saw Heidi [Androl], she's my sweetheart, but she's the one who puts the cameras in the front of the fighters and the special guests. Then I saw like more and more people coming and I was like, 'Hell no'. And I saw my manager and like Gordon Ryan brought me a cocktail and he was like, 'It's our tradition'. So, I was just sipping on it and she was like, 'Put it down'. And I was like, why? Like, whatcha talking about? And then it happened, like I was not expecting, that's why I was crying there. 

"The only thing I was saying was like, I'm not ready for, I'm not ready for it means I'm old, it means I'm really retired, I'm not ready. But honestly, it was one of my dreams after becoming UFC fighter, UFC champion and I wanted to be so dominant and I was somehow. It just happened and it just cemented my legacy. I'm feeling honored."

Speaking of legacy, Jedrzejczyk didn't leave many stones unturned in her career. Sure, she didn't become a two-weight or a two-time champion in the promotion, but she's a shoe-in for the greatest strawweight of all time with five successful title defenses. 

Even so, the desire to fight again didn't completely go away when 'JJ' laid down the gloves at UFC 275 in a 2022 loss to Zhang Weili. It's an itch that Jedrzejczyk has to this very day, a difficult decision that she has opted not to scratch. 

Although, Jedrzejczyk admits she came close to doing so.

"I have to be honest with you. Yes," Jedrzejczyk on if she's contemplated coming out of retirement. "Even few days before last show in Miami, I was like trying to force my manager to let me go in. But my family, some of my fans and friends, they don't want me to do this anymore. I'm like in between, but I'm not gonna fight in the UFC ever again.

"First eight months after I retired were the most difficult months in my life probably because I was thinking every day I was even calling texting Dana, Hunter, my manager, Dan Lambert, my family that I was going to come back. Actually I went to the states, I was back to American Top team in January last year and I was training really hard for four weeks and I was ready to schedule a fight, but then super bad injury came back and I had to go through the medical procedure and I'm still trying to get in shape after a year."

Activity or lack thereof affects fighters in all kinds of different ways. In Alexander Volkanovski's experience, the former champ says he doesn't do well when he's not fighting. That was said after a KO loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.

As for Jedrzejcyk, inactivity bothers her 'a little bit,' adding: "It was super difficult for me was the last years I was trained from two to three times a day for last 20 years. I went from three to zero for few months. It was really difficult for my head, my body in general. It was super difficult, but I'm getting better."

Will the door of retirement stay closed for Joanna Jedrzejczyk? "Right now? Yeah, I will never fight again," the former champ stated. However, as we've learned through the years, 'retirement' is a loose term as we tend to see fighters come back even after making a complete stop.

"I don't know. Of course, people will remember what I just said to you, but I can change my mind," Jedrzejczyk cleared up. "I can wake up tomorrow and say like, 'I'm not happy'. Honestly, I'm happy in my life. I'm very happy as, as woman and human and business woman, blah, blah, blah. But there is some some small puzzle missing in my life. It's super weird and super difficult.

"MMA is not an easy sport and it's super difficult, especially when you get to the top and from fight to fight, the camps are getting just more and more difficult physically and mentally. And the thing is that I don't know how to go easy. I don't [take] the shortcut, I always go hundred percent. But somehow I miss this. You know, I miss this s***** job, you know? But I love this at the same time."

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