Claudia Gadelha explains why she'll win the rematch against Joanna Jedrzejczyk
It's been nearly two years since Claudia Gadelha suffered a heartbreaking split decision loss at the hands Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but the Brazilian strawweight says she's used that time to improve as a fighter.
In their December 2014 original bout, Gadelha completed a UFC career-high seven takedowns and controlled the fight for more than eight minutes, but absorbed 38 significant strikes. Now, however, she says she's ready to prove that's she's an all-around better fighter.
"I'm a whole different fighter now," Gadelha told Karyn Bryant on the latest episode of TUF Talk. "I do everything better today. It's so funny because I got a lot better in that time. It's been a year and a half since we fought and my BBJ is better, my wrestling is better, my boxing, kickboxing, everything is better now. My conditioning's a lot better, so I can't wait to get in the Octagon and show everything to the world."
Gadelha showed how fast she could improve just eight months later, when she defeated then-undefeated former World Series of Fighting strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190. Gadelha was able to complete all four of her takedown attempts against the three-time U.S. FILA grappling gold medalist and landed a UFC career-high 111 significant strikes to earn another shot at Jedrzejczyk.
Now that Jedrzejczyk is champion, the pair of top strawweights will fight for five championship rounds in the rematch, something that "JJ" has done three times since their first matchup. That doesn't mean Gadelha isn't ready for the extended action.
"I think [five rounds] is great. I actually train better in my last rounds than first rounds of sparring sessions, so I can't wait to get inside the Octagon and fight for five rounds," Gadelha said. "I'm ready for that, I'm training my ass off and I'll be there. I'll be ready."
Like all fighters, the 27-year-old Gadelha has had to make a lot of sacrifices to get where she is today in the UFC. Sacrifices that she knows will all be worth it if she can wrap a UFC belt around her waist come July 8 in Las Vegas.
"[The title] would mean a lot of things," Gadelha said after a deep sigh. "I'm from a city that doesn't give you a lot of opportunity in life and I left my house, I left my family when I was 15 years old to live a dream that seems so crazy for everybody. ... It's still crazy for a lot of people right now. But to me, it's something I can't even explain. It's so big for me and I feel so much emotion for this. I will give my life inside the Octagon to get that belt."
