Joanna Jedrzejczyk Wants to Return to Strawweight for One Last Championship Run

Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s long-term future may very well be at 125 pounds, but she most likely isn’t done at strawweight just yet.

The Polish star came up short in her bid for flyweight gold at UFC 231, dropping a five-round verdict to Valentina Shevchenko in Saturday’s co-main event at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Jedrzejczyk previously had a lengthy reign at 115 pounds, as she claimed the throne with a second-round knockout of Carla Esparza at UFC 185 and then defended the belt five times, often in dominant fashion. That reign came to an end at the hands of Rose Namajunas, who bested Jedrzejczyk twice in a five-month span.

Namajunas is expected to face Jessica Andrade for her next title defense, though the bout has not been announced. Jedrzejczyk said she will only go down to 115 pounds again for a title shot.

“Definitely, I want to challenge myself and chase my other dream and go for the strawweight belt again,” Jedrzejczyk said at the UFC 231 post-fight press conference. “So I will wait for Andrade and Rose to fight next year. Rose has only four months left to defend the belt, because otherwise she might lose the belt with no fight. That’s the thing. Because I was a pretty busy champion, other champions were pretty busy. But if you defend your title once a year, you’re losing the belt. We will see.”

One person who believes Jedrzejczyk is better suited to strawweight for the long haul is UFC president Dana White.

“I love her, she’s such a great fighter and such a good person,” White said. “I actually consider her a friend. I want her to take some time off, go spend some time with her family and then we’ll get together and talk about it. But I’d like to see her stay at [115 pounds].”

Still, while Jedrzejczyk appeared undersized in surrendering five takedowns against Shevchenko, she believes competing at flyweight will ultimately be better for her health. She has had difficulty with her weight cut in the past, most notably prior to the first meeting with Namajunas at UFC 217. While Jedrzejczyk never missed weight, she claimed the cut affected her performance.

Still, Jedrzejczyk’s competitive nature won’t allow her to close the book on strawweight just yet.

“I must do this for myself and put dot on ‘i,” Jedrjzejczyk said. “I will drop one more time to the strawweight division. But I’m not getting younger, I’m getting older. And I’ve been in this business for 15 years, so I want to take care of my body.

“This camp I realized how it can impact your body, your brain and your performance being on such a strict diet for so many weeks. Or the weight cut. Definitely, I want to protect myself, protect my body. But yeah, the other stupid thing is I want to do this one more time — that’s it. One more time. We always give second chance to ourselves and I want to do this.”