Joanna Jedrzejczyk: Can’t stop, won’t stop
“There’s me, Ronda Rousey, Amanda Nunes, and Cris Cyborg. … I always wanted to be remembered, and I will be remembered.”
Joanna Jedrzejczyk had a perfect 13-0 record heading into her 6th title defense, vs. Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 on November 4, 2017. She lost that fight, and the immediate rematch. Jedrzejczyk bounced back with a win over Tecia Torres, which earned a title shot vs. Valentina Shevchenko for the vacant flyweight title, but lost the decision unanimously. Again Jedrzejczyk bounced back with a win vs. Michelle Waterson, which earned her a shot at new strawweight champion Weili Zhang. In the WMMA fight of the ever, Jedrzejczyk lost a Split Decision.
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In July, Jedrzejczyk captioned an image from Bulgaria with the hashtag #33andretired.
However, during a recent interview with SCMP MMA’s Tom Taylor on Post Fight, Joanna cleared up any remaining rumors.
I will be fighting, she said. I can’t stop. I won’t stop. I was thinking, ‘maybe I’ll do one, two, three more fights,’ but why not fight every year? Even if I do it once a year or twice a year, why not do it? I love it. It doesn’t matter if I keep winning or losing or keep fighting for the title or not, I just love it.
I see things differently. People give me so much energy and strength. I just want to do it for my fans all over the world.
Being the champ again. I just want to give big fights to the fans, to the people, because I know my value is very big. I just want people to see that we can never stop, that we can’t give up, that we should fight for our goals and dreams.
I lost my last fight, but I feel I will rock the next fight even better. The last camp was special, but I know that I can do even better this time, and I will. I can’t wait. I’m excited. Lots of pain, lots of tears, lots of blood, sacrificing myself, but it’s worth it to step into the UFC Octagon and fight for the belt.
[I want to be] a Hall of Famer. One of the best. There’s me, Ronda Rousey, Amanda Nunes, and Cris Cyborg. It’s the four of us who accomplished so much in this sport. I always wanted to be remembered, and I will be remembered.
What do you think UG? Does JJ make it into the UFC Hall of Fame? For that matter, does Cris Cyborg?
h/t Dan Hiergesell for MMA Mania
