UFC: Reinvigorated Joanna Jedrzejczyk eyes spring comeback fight against Namajunas, Zhang or Esparza – ‘I feel the fire’
- Former UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk has not fought since a decision loss to Zhang Weili in March 2020
- Jedrzejczyk has rediscovered her passion for the sport and sees Namajunas, Zhang and Esparza as viable foes for 2022 comeback
It’s been almost two years since Poland’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk last stepped foot in the UFC’s Octagon, but the reinvigorated former strawweight champion is hoping that changes soon.
Jedrzejczyk, now 34 years old, last fought at UFC 248 in March of 2020, when she challenged China’s Zhang Weili in a bid to reclaim the UFC strawweight title. The fight went down as one of the best in UFC history, but it did not go the way she planned. After five, razor-close rounds, she lost by unanimous decision, returning to Poland with a serious hematoma and worse, no championship belt in her luggage.
It was a tough setback for the former champ, one that prompted her to take some time away from the sport to focus on other aspects of her life.
“The last 18 years, I‘ve been focused only on my fighting career,” Jedrzejczyk told the Post from a coffee shop in Warsaw. “I forgot about myself as a human, as a woman, as a businesswoman.”
Jedrzejczyk has made the most of her time away from the sport, dedicating herself to a dizzying list of business ventures, projects and new hobbies – from buying a new home to kick-starting a career in professional motorsports.
“I’m doing so many things,” she said. “Last weekend I did my first race. I want to be a driver – a professional driver, a racing driver – and in the future I want to do [the] Dakar [rally], maybe in three or four years after I retire from martial arts.
“I’m opening another company, I’m signing other deals, and I’m enjoying my life.”