UFC: Joanna Jedrzejczyk ‘smarter now’, sees victory in a Rose Namajunas trilogy match-up
- ‘She’s the champ right now, so she’s holding the cards,’ admits former strawweight champ, who is 0-2 against American ‘Thug’
- ‘It’s all about having a better plan. I had a few fights with good opponents, there’s more videos to study Rose’s style,’ Jedrzejczyk insists
Former UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk believes a trilogy fight with the division Rose Namajunas could be in the cards in the near future.
Namajunas returned to action in the main event of UFC 261 last month, claiming the strap for a second time with a first-round knockout of China’s Zhang Weili.
“There’s a possibility of me fighting Rose, but she’s the champ right now, so she’s holding the cards,” Jedrzejczyk told SCMP MMA. “Let’s see when she wants to fight next – that’s the most important thing. She deserves the time off. She became the champ for the second time and she deserves whatever she wants.”
The pair first met in late 2017, with Namajunas winning by first-round knockout to capture the strawweight title. They then had an immediate rematch in early 2018, which Namajunas won by split decision, but Jedrzejczyk remains confident she has the skills to defeat her rival.
“I put on a hell of a performance in our rematch,” she said. “I wasn’t able to compete at the highest level when we met for the first time at Madison Square Garden in 2017 because of the bad weight cut I had.
“Rose knocked me out and she won that fight clearly. But I don’t know, I put on such a long camp before that rematch. It was a long 12 weeks of hard training.
UFC: Jedrzejczyk tells Zhang ‘don’t think about’ Namajunas KO
“It’s all about having a better plan than I had last time. I’m smarter now. I had a few fights with good opponents, and there’s more videos to watch to study Rose’s style one more time.”
Jedrzejczyk, who was tuned in live for Namajunas’ fight with Zhang, was impressed by American’s performance, but not surprised by the outcome.
“[I predicted] first-round for Rose, and it happened,” she said. “So many people wanted Rose to win, but they didn’t believe enough in Rose. I’m really happy for Rose.
“It’s not easy to fight Weili. She’s very motivated, very strong physically and mentally. This girl, she doesn’t give up. She’s always going forward, but Rose’s footwork, reach, distance and timing... She’s got power behind her punches – and kicks.
“Rose and her team, they had a good plan and she was patient. This fight wasn’t long, but she was patient, and she got [Zhang]. I know she’s such a hard worker, and she deserved that.”
