Joanna Jedrzejczyk – Syndication Server

UFC free fight: Zhang Weili blows up Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s head in all-time classic battle

Ahead of her UFC 300 title defense vs. Yan Xiaonan, sit back and enjoy Zhang Weili’s greatest octagon battle to date vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

[autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] and [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] laid it all on the line in arguably the greatest female fight in UFC history.

During her first reign as strawweight champion, Weili defended her title against ex-titleholder Jedrzejczyk by split decision in the co-main event of UFC 248 in March 2020, where both women stood and traded for all five rounds.

The fight is certain to go into the UFC Hall of Fame fight wing eventually, and is one of the key wins on Weili’s (24-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) resume as she looks for the second title defense in her second reign as 115-pound champion at UFC 300 on April 13 when she takes on Yan Xiaonan (15-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC).

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Round 1, the pair started out by exchanging low kicks. Jedrzejczyk landed the first significant strike with a beautiful one-two combination, prompting Weili to ramp up the aggression by throwing heat in the pocket. Weili continued to press forward and appeared to land the more significant shots. She was awarded Round 1 on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

Jedrzejczyk continued to attack Weili’s lead leg in Round 2. Weili attempted to mix things up with a takedown, but Jedrzejczyk shucked her off. Both ladies exchanged blows in the clinch. Shortly after, Weili was able to stumble Jedrzejczyk with a big right hand, followed by a brief takedown. Towards the end of the round, Jedrzejczyk landed a nice left high kick.

Round 3 saw an aggressive start from both fighters. Weili appeared to slow down a little, with Jedrzejczyk landing some of her best shots of the fight. This was the only round that all three judges agreed on, scoring it for Jedrzejczyk, who started developing a massive hematoma on her forehead.

Rounds 4 and 5 saw more high-paced action, but Jedrzejczyk’s forehead was starting to show some serious swelling. That didn’t deter her from pressing forward though as both ladies continued to throw heavy leather in the pocket. The rounds were razor-close, hence the scorecards being all over the place. However, it was Weili who ended up getting the nod via split decision and retaining her title.

Weili meets Xiaonan in the co-main event of the historic UFC 300 event, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Before her next title defense, relive Weili’s battle with Jedrzejczyk in the video above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk joins 2024 UFC Hall of Fame class

Joanna Jedrzejczyk will become the second female enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class.

[autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] will become the second female enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class.

Jedrzejczyk, a former longtime UFC strawweight champion, is set to join Ronda Rousey as the only woman in the UFC Hall of Fame, in the modern era wing, the promotion announced during Saturday’s UFC 299 broadcast.

“Joanna is one of the greatest athletes in combat sports history,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a press release. “Joanna is an amazing person who has been an incredible champion, ambassador, and role model for women’s MMA, as well as an absolute killer inside the Octagon. She fought the best of the best in her division and never backed down from an opponent. Joanna is one of the toughest athletes we’ve ever seen, and it will be an honor to induct her into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer during International Fight Week.”

The Polish fighter entered the UFC in July 2014 with an undefeated record and a decorated muay-Thai background. After winning her first two octagon appearances, Jedrzejczyk got a title shot against inaugural 115-pound titleholder Carla Esparza at UFC 185, turning in a dominating performance for a second-round knockout to claim gold.

That started one of the most dominant female title runs in UFC history. Jedrzejczyk would go on to defend the belt five consecutive times, recording some of the most lopsided championship performances ever seen inside the octagon.

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Jedrzejczyk’s run on top came to an end at UFC 217 in November 2017 when she was knocked out by Rose Namajunas. She could not reclaim the belt after multiple attempts, but would still turn in more memorable bouts, such as her 2020 Fight of the Year against Zhang Weili at UFC 248 in March 2020, which will surely enter the UFC Hall of Fame fight wing at some point in the future.

The final fight of Jedrzejczyk’s memorable career came in July 2020, when she lost a rematch with Weili by second-round knockout at UFC 275, retiring inside the cage afterward.

Jedrzejczyk, 36, is the third fighter to be announced for the 2024 UFC Hall of Fame class, alongside former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and former PRIDE FC champ Wanderlei Silva.

She also joins the Hall of Fame pioneer wing which currently includes Forrest Griffin, B.J. Penn, Urijah Faber, Rousey, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, Jose Aldo and Donald Cerrone.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Photos: All-time UFC women’s champions

Take a look at the history of females who have claimed UFC gold.

From the first-ever UFC women’s champion, Ronda Rousey, to the current crop of titleholders, here’s a look at the females who have captured UFC gold since women first step foot in the octagon in 2013.

30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Did enough women make our list?

Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are the women on our 30 greatest UFC fighters. Is that it enough?

The UFC’s 30th anniversary date has come and gone, and in the build-up to the milestone date, MMA Junkie counted down its 30 greatest fighters of all time to compete for the promotion.

There was plenty of debate about the entire list from top to bottom, and one of our big talking points was the inclusion of women.

The final list was tabulated through a points system after voting from MMA Junkie’s 12-person staff. Four female fighters made our list – [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] (No. 8), [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag] (No. 20), [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] (No. 22), and [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] (No. 27).

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On a special edition of “Spinning Back Clique,” the majority of our staff members came together to discuss and debate the finer points of the list. Did enough women make the list, or should any others have been included?

Check out the discussion in the video above, or watch the entire 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time podcast below.

MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Full list and videos

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, this is our definitive list of the promotion’s 30 greatest fighters of all time.

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, MMA Junkie has compiled its definitive list of the 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time. We revealed one every day until the anniversary of UFC 1, which took place Nov. 12, 1993.

Our complete rankings, along with videos for each fighter, can be viewed below.

About the list: All 12 members of our staff submitted their own individual 30 greatest UFC fighters list. Each fighter was assigned a corresponding numerical value based on where they were ranked on an individual’s list, i.e. No. 1 = 30, No. 2 = 29, etc. We took those numbers and added them up to get a total number for each fighter to determine the composite ranking of MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time.

30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Joanna Jedrzejczyk ranked No. 27

There hasn’t been a force in the strawweight division like Joanna Jedrzejczyk, which is why she’s one of the 30 greatest UFC fighters.

The UFC is celebrating its 30th year and to commemorate the milestone, MMA Junkie has compiled its 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time. Every day until the anniversary of UFC 1 on Nov. 12 (1993), we will reveal one fighter on our list.

Today, MMA Junkie reporter Danny Segura brings you No. 27: [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag].

You can watch Segura’s career retrospective on Jedrzejczyk above; video produced by Ken Hathaway.

Also see:

Former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk finally calm in retirement, nixes UFC comeback plans

Joanna Jedrzejczyk was on the cusp of ending her retirement from MMA this year before an injury provided perspective.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] was on the cusp of ending her retirement from MMA this year before an injury provided perspective.

Jedrzejczyk (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC), a former longtime UFC strawweight champion, brought an end to her esteemed combat sports career in June 2022 when she announced her retirement following a knockout loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275. It was a difficult decision for her, and one many questioned whether it would stick.

The Polish striking specialist brought doubts that she would stay away from active competition when she told MMA Junkie in October that she was struggling to come to grips with hanging up the gloves, and hinted a comeback could be on the horizon. She even jumped into training at the intensity in which she would prepare for a fight, but then a lingering shoulder issue resurfaced.

“I was back to American Top Team at the beginning of this year, at the end of January (and) I wanted to see if I was able to be back and train really hard, and I was,” Jedrzejczyk told MMA Junkie. “I was training really hard for two, three times a day for 13 weeks. Everyone was asking if I was coming back and coming out of retirement. Honestly, I wanted to be back. I wanted to give myself one more chance. But then my (shoulder injury) happened again, it came back with double the power it used to hurt before.

“I got really sad. Very emotional. But I got calmness in my heart and soul. It’s what I was looking for, for eight months after I retired. I feel like I’m in the spot where I’m not chasing this anymore. That’s a good thing. Sad, difficult, but I feel calm. This is what I was missing the first few months after I retired.”

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Jedrzejczyk, 35, was out of action for more than two years before the loss to Zhang at UFC 276. She chose not to compete during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but came back with every intention to avenge her 2020 Fight of the Year loss to Zhang in the rematch, then go on to a title fight at 115 pounds.

The shoulder injury first flared up while preparing for that fight, and although she was able to contain the severity of it, the side effects have persisted. She finally opted to pull the trigger on surgery, which she said was the most significant procedure of a nearly 20-year combat sports career.

“It was bothering me for a while,” Jedrzejczyk said. “The first issues I started having was before my fight with Weili Zhang, so it’s been more than three years. I was very smart and had good physical therapy and in the offseason, I always take good care of my body, but we couldn’t this time. I had to go through the surgery and it was quite a big things, so in total I need seven to nine months total to recover.”

Jedrzejczyk knows the fire for competition will never leave her completely. That’s simply in her DNA, and what she thinks everyone who reaches her level of success has in them. She’s better equipped to handle that reality than ever before, though, and thinks there are plenty of other things out there to keep her satisfied going forward.

“I want to fight ADCC,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I’m doing racing. I want to play golf and tennis. The thing is, this is such a difficult sport. You have to dedicate so much. We were born as fighters, because we’re all fighting for our first breath when we are born. But being a fighter is such a difficult thing, and we need this adrenaline. We need this adrenaline running in our blood. We’re always looking for some challenges and we love chasing each other. That’s the thing. I have so many passions outside of MMA, but you can’t compare it to being a fighter.”

MMA Junkie Radio #3379: Guests Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Giga Chikadze, Jamahal Hill news, Mayra Bueno Silva surge, more

Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”

Monday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.

On Episode 3,379, the guys welcome in UFC guests [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] and [autotag]Giga Chikadze[/autotag]. They also discuss the Jamahal Hill news, Mayra Bueno Silva’s win over Holly Holm and more. Tune in!

Video: Joanna Jedrzejczyk talks fan ‘d*ck pics,’ love for boxing, wanting to visit Machu Picchu, more

Former UFC champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk talks an array of things with MMA Junkie Radio.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] stopped by to speak with MMA Junkie Radio at the UFC X event at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The former UFC women’s strawweight champion spoke about fans sending her adult-rated content, impactful fan interactions, her legacy, love for boxing, and much more. You can check out the full chat with Jedrzejczyk in the video above.

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Farewell, fighters: A list of former UFC champs and more MMA notables who retired in 2022

The MMA world said goodbye to more than 35 notable fighters in 2022, from former UFC champions to future UFC Hall of Famers and more.

MMA is a constantly evolving sport with a revolving door of athletes entering and exiting. Currently fighters from the era that helped make the sport so popular are beginning to trickle away from competition and hang up their gloves to move on to the next chapters in their lives.

If there’s one thing that’s well known about combat sports retirements, though, it’s that they often don’t last long. The urge to compete and, perhaps more importantly, get a payday will continue to drive fighters back, even well beyond their expiration dates.

In 2022, there was an uptick in notable fighters announcing they are retired, and we have a list of those who opted to walk away last year.