Joanna Jędrzejczyk laid her gloves in the Octagon last month following her second-round knockout loss to Zhang Weili in their rematch. The defeat marked her fifth loss in her last seven fights, explaining the decision to retire.
But what a fighting legacy the former strawweight champion of the world leaves behind.
Since splashing onto the MMA scene in May 2012 and making her debut in the UFC in July 2014, Jędrzejczyk (16-5) quickly garnered a penchant for delivering thrills with her unrelenting striking style.
With Jędrzejczyk’s retirement announcement still reverberating through the mixed martial arts world, we take a look back at her glorious fighting legacy with six epic clashes that exemplified her warrior spirit.
Making history for Poland and the sport, Nov. 12, 2016
UFC's first show at the combat sports mecca known as Madison Square Garden came towards the end of 2016, following the decision by New York to finally end their ban on MMA events within their boundaries. While the seminal moment for mixed martial arts was of course highlighted by the visual of Conor McGregor celebrating becoming the UFC's first ever 'champ-champ', the main card as a whole was not short on big moments. One of those came when Jędrzejczyk successfully defended her strawweight crown against compatriot Karolina Kowalkiewicz in a highly-anticipated battle of unbeaten pros.
Firework-filled thriller with Zhang Weili, March 7, 2020
Simply put: Zhang Weili’s split-decision victory over Jędrzejczyk to win the strawweight title at UFC 248 may very well be the greatest women’s mixed martial arts fight ever and one of the best bouts in MMA history, period. Weili and Jędrzejczyk combined for over 700 strikes thrown across 25 minutes of frenetic, heart-pounding action. The battle more than showcased Jędrzejczyk’s warrior spirit in a clash that received Fight of the Night honors and left indelible marks on the sport. Not to mention, marks on Jędrzejczyk, too, as the Polish star sported a haunting hematoma as a result of the carnage in the battle for the ages.
Nail-biter of a rematch against Rose Namajunas, Apr. 7, 2018
It took three minutes and three seconds for Namajunas to shock Jędrzejczyk by TKO (punches) and capture the strawweight world championship back at UFC 217 in November 2017. Just over five months later was a completely different story. That’s because the former champ Jędrzejczyk entered the Octagon in Brooklyn, New York with an adjusted and shrewd gameplan. From the opening round, Jędrzejczyk asserted a stinging leg kick. By the middle of the fight, Namajunas’s lead leg was swollen and Jędrzejczyk’s commitment to the leg kicks paved the way for her land heavy shots upstairs as the American had slowed down. After five rounds, judges scored it as a unanimous decision for Namajunas, clearly rewarding her for her clean striking throughout the fight. But Jędrzejczyk pointed to the numbers and had a case. Final fight stats showed that Jędrzejczyk landed 41 percent of her significant strikes to Namajunas’s 35 percent. Despite the scorecards, Jędrzejczyk left the Octagon that night with more respect added to her name.
Stopping Carla Esparza to be crowned strawweight world champion, March 14, 2015
So, we might have started this list with two hard-fought defeats, but there’s no shame in razor-thin losses to quality fighters. If anything, they only added to Jędrzejczyk’s lore with more gore. Still, Jędrzejczyk more than compiled her fair share of highlights with stellar Ws in the win column. One of her biggest victories came against Esparza at UFC 185 in Dallas, Tex. That’s where Jędrzejczyk stuffed Esparza’s takedown attempts, forcing the latter to fight on her feet. Jędrzejczyk would punish Esparza, repeatedly tagging her with clean, thudding shots until she blasted her with a plethora of unanswered rights and lefts against the Octagon to stop the action in the second round for a TKO. The win improved Jędrzejczyk’s record to 9-0 but more importantly allowed her to claim the UFC strawweight world championship at 27-years-old in a Performance of the Night.
Blasting Jessica Penne in first title defense, June 20, 2015
Fresh off ofwinning the strawweight world championship, Jędrzejczyk didn’t waste time defending the title. At a UFC Fight Night in Berlin, Germany, Jędrzejczyk pieced together stinging combinations showing why she’s a striking champion. One of them included an unforgiving front kick that she made Penne eat to the face, followed by some riveting elbows. The ref stopped the bout in the third round after Jędrzejczyk rocked Penne with some punches and a vicious knee. The win would mark the first of three title defenses for Jędrzejczyk in 2015 and five altogether before losing the strap to Namajunas.
Getting the nod over Claudia Gadelha, Jul. 8, 2016
Coaching a "The Ultimate Fighter" team was amongst the highlights of Jędrzejczyk’s career. The experience culminated in a rematch against Gadelha, nearly two years removed from their initial clash which Jędrzejczyk won via split decision. The rematch started off close with Gadelha dropping Jędrzejczyk in the first round and taking the Polish star down in the second. Jędrzejczyk used her championship savvy, though, to make adjustments in a pivotal third round. It was there that Jędrzejczyk found a home for her front kicks and combinations. She generated enough striking consistency from there to have her hand raised by unanimous decisions this time around, collecting a deserving Fight of the Night bonus as well.