Skip to main content

Joanna Jedrzejzyk went into UFC 217 on the verge of making history in the realm of women’s MMA but left New York City with the first defeat on her professional record.

The former UFC women’s strawweight champion suffered a stunning knockout defeat at the hands of ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas in the first of three title changes last week at Madison Square Garden. It was the first defeat of her 15-fight professional career and put a definitive stop to her attempts to tie Ronda Rousey’s record for the most successful title defences in women’s UFC history but, as Jedrzejzyk said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, the absence of UFC gold from her waist is very much temporary.

“In May, I will be champion again,” Jedrzejzyk said as reported by MMAFighting. “Mark my words. May, I’m coming back. It doesn’t matter if Rose is going to hold the belt or not — I will be back in May and mark my words.”

Namajunas hasn’t yet announced a time-frame for her first title defence but has commented that it may not come against Jedrzejzyk but the Pole maintains that no matter who has the title belt at the moment, she still feels very much like a champion.

“I’m the greatest and for myself, I’m still the champion,” she said. “This is just another part in the movie. She can take the belt, but I am still the champion, you know? I’m coming back. I’m coming back really soon.

“I’m not going to cry, I want to talk to people about that. There is something about me, there is something in my body and nobody have it.”