Joanna Jedrzejczyk knows what she wants.
The former UFC strawweight champion is teetering on two years of inactivity since her last fight. She is determined to compete again, and she will accept any opponent that offers it.
With reigning strawweight champion Rose Namajunas expected to clash with Carla Esparza later this year, Jedrzejczyk is targeting a rematch with Zhang Weili after their “Fight of the Year” back in 2020. She can’t get any firm word on Zhang’s availability to fight her.
“I heard Zhang Weili may not be back until late July or August,” Jedrzejczyk revealed on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “What they told me was that she was planning on being back to fighting March-April and then May-June. My last information was July-August.
“I can wait, and I want to wait, but on the other hand, I don’t want to wait that long.”
Since she engaged in the back-and-forth war with Zhang, Jedrzejczyk has never stopped training or preparing for another fight. But there hasn’t been an opportunity intriguing enough to draw her back to the cage.
Jedrzejczyk had previously asked for fights against Zhang, Namajunas or even Esparza. But now, two of those potential opponents are expected to be booked against each other. When looking down the rankings, the 34-year-old Polish star doesn’t really see many options available.
“It’s complicated because all the girls [ranked] from 1 to 10 are booked,” Jedrzejczyk said. Jedrzejczyk stated, “But, like I said before, I only look at the big and big fights .”
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Considering she’s been sidelined for so long, Jedrzejczyk has heard calls that she should just take any fight that’s offered to her, or even pursue a matchup against a potentially less difficult opponent than someone like Zhang.
She rebuts that notion because, at this point in her career, Jedrzejczyk doesn’t want to fight anyone, even though she has been asking for the best UFC opponents.
“So many people are like, ‘Get an easy fight, you’ve been out for a while,” Jedrzejczyk said. “A fight is a fight. Fighting is an enjoyable experience. The hard work is so many weeks before. I make the same amount of money. I’m crazy. Crazy when I train and prepare for fights. I don’t go easy. So I don’t want to fight easy.
” I don’t desire an easy fight. Because I’ll be working hard to prepare for the title fight. Because I have been trained to face big names like No. 1 [contender] or the champion.”
Jedrzejczyk is currently in Florida, training alongside her coaches at American Top Team in a trip she planned before the end of 2021. The original idea was to return to the gym to start a training camp and get a fight before the end of March.
As February comes to a close, she still has nothing booked.
“It’s tough,” she said. She said, “Because I already planned my trip to the States in October, so I knew that I would have three months to make sure the business is running smoothly back home. Mick [Maynard]. was even a text message to me. They are matchmakers. I sent Dana the following: ‘Dana , can you fight at March’s end, I will have ready’. He was great and said ‘OK, lets do it .’
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“But then we got the info that all the girls are booked. Then I said, “No! I don’t want to fight in March. Rose [Namajunas] will fight Carla [Esparza], and then I will win the title fight.” But then I realized, why are you hurrying? In two years, you have not fought. It’s not going to make a big difference if I don’t fight at [again] for six months. So I’m here training, waiting.”
In a perfect world, Jedrzejczyk would get the rematch signed against Zhang sooner rather than later, though she’s still not sure what exactly is forcing the former strawweight champion to push back a potential fight until the second half of the year.
” It seems that she is training,” Jedrzejczyk stated. She’s uploading pictures. “She’s posting pictures.
Jedrzejczyk has been playing the waiting game for now. But, she still has time to do something before returning home to Poland in April.
” I’m speaking to Dan Lambert and Jennifer Goldstein who are my managers, CAA management. We’re trying to keep in touch with Mick, the UFC and make another decision. Jorge [Masvidal] told me, ‘I was in the spot where you’re at now, be patient.’ Jorge said that, so thanks Jorge, I will be patient.”
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