Joanna Jedrzejczyk: 'No one believed in me'
When a woman has over 70 Muay Thai fights, then heads to MMA and goes undefeated on the strength of her punches, elbows, knees and kicks, she can develop a warranted reputation as a feared stand-up striker. That's exactly what Joanna Jedrzejczyk did, and so that's what happened.
The Polish fighter was so impressive with her striking, however, that many (this writer included) counted her out on account of the assumption that she wouldn't be able to contend with defending strawweight champion Carla Esparza's wrestling and grappling attack at UFC 185 this past Saturday. How wrong we all were.
Jedrzejczyk defended Esparza's grappling and then dominated her with striking on the feet, resulting in a second-round TKO. "I was working so hard on my wrestling, but no one believed in me," Jedrzejczyk said.
"I'm not a striker anymore. I'm a complete mixed martial artist."
Who could deny her that now? Indeed, Jedrzejczyk now looks to be a favorite against any would-be challengers in the division after stuffing Esparza's takedown attempts.
Jedrzejczyk went on to say that she conserved energy in the first round against Esparza, when she had the American hurt. "I could have finished the fight in the first round," she said.
"But I wanted to take it easy because it was a five-round fight. So, I did it in the second round."
Indeed she did, and now the 27-year-old returns to her native Poland as the proud fighting nation's first MMA world champion. The UFC golden belt is the charismatic new champ's prized possession.
"I am a confident person, and like I said that I was going to do this, that I was going to be a new champion. And I did it, you know?" she said matter of factly.
"I'm here, and I've got my baby."
For Jedrzejczyk, self-confidence was crucial to her success. Even when the rest of the world didn't believe, she still did.
"That's why I'm here. I was always believing in myself," she said.
Jedrzejczyk has great timing as well, as in less than a month, the UFC will head to Poland for a UFC Fight Night card. You had better believe that Jedrzejczyk will be there, front and center, smiling with all the confidence and pride in the world.
"I'm happy that UFC is going to be in Poland (at UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop II) on April 11," she said.
"It's a pretty big deal, so I'm happy I'm going to be there."
