Is this Joanna Jedrzejczyk last shot at reclaiming champion status?
Few people celebrated Rose Namajunas’ strawweight title loss like Jedrzejczyk (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC).
Sure, the title has since bounced from Jessica Andrade, who defeated Namajunas, to Zhang. But the point is, Jedrzejczyk, who remains the most dominant 115-pound titleholder in UFC history, had a career-altering roadblock finally removed when Namajunas, who ended Jedrzejczyk’s reign and then won an immediate rematch, was out of the way.
This is looking like “Joanna Champion’s” last chance at making that nickname ring true. She lost to Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 231 in a fight to fill the vacant flyweight title, but few are holding that loss against her, as Shevchenko went down in weight and Jedrzejczyk up in order to make that fight happen.
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More important is how she’s fared in her recent strawweight bouts. That included a 30-27 across-the-board win over Tecia Torres and a 50-45 win over Michelle Waterson. Those results indicate that Jedrzejczyk is still an elite fighter and that she’s earned this shot regardless of past title fight results. Now it’s on her to snap a three-fight losing streak in title bouts, or else a fourth chance might never come.
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