It wasn’t so long ago that Joanna Jedrzejczyk was considered to be, by far, the most dangerous pound-for-pound fighter in women’s mixed martial arts.
However, a trio of defeats in quick succession (to Rose Namajunas x2, Valentina Shevchenko) opened the door for some of her rivals to assume that mantle but now that she is back to winning ways following a decision win against Michelle Waterson last month, Jedrzejczyk is ready to reassume her position as the name to chase in WMMA — and her inspiration comes from this month’s UFC 244 headliner between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz to determine the UFC’s ‘baddest motherf*cker’
“People used to call me violent, savage,” she told the South China Morning Post recently, via MMA Fighting. “Jorge just won the belt — the baddest motherf*cker belt. I want to be the female BMF.”
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#NothingButRespect 🙏🏼 4 YEARS AGO #UFC193 💥 Thanks Girl @valerietroubleletourneau ❤️
Joanna Champion, as she was temporarily known for a spell as reporters the world over grappled with the pronunciation, and indeed spelling, of her name, is one of the most successful female fighters in the history of the UFC having competed in no less than nine official UFC title fights. Her record of five wins in the championship fights stands just one below the record set by Ronda Rousey.
And as Jedrzejczyk suggests that the title of the UFC’s female iteration of the ‘BMF’ title should be bestowed to either her or Rousey.
“These [other] girls can make it, they can win the belt, but there’s nobody like Ronda Rousey, like me,” Jedrzejczyk explained. “People can doubt me, and they’ll do that forever, but show me a better, cleaner fighter in the UFC or in general. Of course, Amanda Nunes is the GOAT right now, but Ronda Rousey had six successful title defences, me, five. Rose [Namajunas]? One title defence. Jessica [Andrade] couldn’t defend the title.”
Jedrzejczyk will have an opportunity to emphasise her ‘BMF’ credentials when she faces newly crowned strawweight champion Weili Zhang at a date yet to be confirmed next year.
