Rivalries: Joanna Jedrzejczyk

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Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s absence has certainly been felt.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight titleholder will climb into the cage for the first time in more than two years when she faces Weili Zhang in a UFC 275 rematch on Saturday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Jedrzejcyk has not fought since she dropped a five-round split decision to the Fight Ready representative in March 2020. She has compiled a 10-4 record across her 14 appearances inside the Octagon, including victories over Michelle Waterson, Tecia Torres, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Jessica Penne.

As Jedrzejczyk makes final preparations ahead of her second encounter with “Magnum” at 115 pounds, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape her remarkable career to this point:

Carla Esparza

Jedrzejczyk took out “Cookie Monster” with punches and claimed the undisputed women’s strawweight championship in the second round of their UFC 185 co-main event on March 14, 2015 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Esparza succumbed to an accumulation of blows 4:17 into Round 2, her five-fight winning streak halted in decisive fashion. Jedrzejczyk denied all but one of the Team Oyama product’s takedown attempts, trapping her on the feet. Esparza grew increasingly desperate, as hopelessness and fatigue set in. By the time the second round arrived, she was little more than a sitting duck. Jedrzejczyk fired away with grisly right hands and stinging jabs, slowly wearing down the Californian. With less than a minute remaining in the frame, she backed up Esparza with a right hand and swarmed with a brutal volley for the finish.

Claudia Gadelha

The unbeaten Jedrzejczyk improved to 12-0, turned away one of her chief rivals for a second time and retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight title when she was awarded a unanimous verdict over the Nova Uniao standout in “The Ultimate Fighter 23” Finale headliner on July 8, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Scores were 48-46, 48-45 and 48-46. Gadelha, who had lost their initial meeting by split decision in a year and a half earlier, forced the champion to deal with genuine adversity for two-plus rounds. She dropped Jedrzejczyk with a jab early in the first period, pursued a merciless clinch and completed four takedowns. However, the Brazilian pushed a pace she could not keep across 25 minutes. Jedrzejczyk kept frustration at bay and started to seize control in the middle stanza before hitting the gas in the third and fourth rounds. She landed more than three times as many significant strikes as the challenger—146 to 40—over the final three frames.

Jessica Andrade

Jedrzejczyk pitched another mesmerizing shutout and retained the women’s strawweight championship with a clear-cut unanimous decision over “Bate Estaca” in the UFC 211 co-main event on May 13, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Scores were 50-45, 50-44 and 50-45. Andrade had the will but not the means with which to dethrone the 115-pound queen. Jedrzejczyk developed a hematoma on her forehead in the first round but made certain virtually everything else went her way. She utilized a punishing jab, attacked the challenger’s base with kicks to the lower leg and mixed in blinding punching combinations to the body and head, drawing her further down the rabbit hole with each passing minute. Even when Andrade closed the distance and clinched with the American Top Team superstar, she was met with knees to the body and short standing elbows. The outcome was never in doubt.

Rose Namajunas

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 20 finalist cemented her place atop the 115-pound weight class and retained the undisputed women’s strawweight crown with a unanimous decision over Jedrzejczyk in the UFC 223 co-headliner on April 7, 2018 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. All three cageside judges struck 49-46 scorecards for Namajunas, who improved to 2-0—she famously knocked out the Polish muay Thai machine in their first meeting five months prior—in their head-to-head series. Jedrzejczyk sputtered out of the gate and absorbed a steady barrage of clean left hooks from the champion. However, she turned the tide in the third and fourth rounds, where she zeroed in on Namajunas’ lead leg with repeated kicks. The appendage became swollen and discolored, reducing some the 303 Training Center star’s lateral movement. Namajunas showed her quality and resolve in Round 5. With Jedrzejczyk suffering from a badly swollen right eye, “Thug Rose” let her hands go and proved superior in the standup exchanges. She tied a bow on another victory with a brilliant tactical maneuver, surprising Jedrzejczyk with a takedown in the closing seconds.

Valentina Shevchenko

What was long viewed as an inevitability became a reality in the UFC 231 co-main event, where “Bullet” took a five-round unanimous decision from Jedrzejczyk and seized the vacant women’s flyweight title on Dec. 8, 2018 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. All three scorecards read 49-46. The masterful Shevchenko was a step ahead of her counterpart in all phases. She outlanded Jedrzejczyk by narrow margins in the second, third and fourth rounds, completed five takedowns and piled up more than eight minutes of control time. It was yet another comprehensive performance from Shevchenko, long viewed as the top woman in the sport at 125 pounds. She showed a little bit of everything against Jedrzejczyk, as she recorded one of her most impressive victories to date at the expense of the American Top Team standout.