UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is set to defend her title for the fifth time at UFC 211 where she will face off against Brazilian Jessica Andrade. Jedrzejczyk made her debut in the Strawweight division in 2014 and has gone on to win all of her fights since then. Her opponent, 25-year old Andrade has also been impressive in the Strawweight division till now.
Andrade initially started out in the Bantamweight division before move to the Strawweight division last year. She has fought only thrice in this division until now but has already made an impression. In her last two fights in the UFC she was awarded Performance of the Night for her win against Joanne Calderwood and Fight of the Night for her win against Angela Hill.
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Jedrzejczyk and Andrade's bout is set to be the co-main event at UFC 211 and during a recent interview, the UFC Women's Strawweight Champion opened up about her opponent. Jedrzejczyk revealed that she and Andrade were sort of friends but they shared a manager and had sparring sessions.
"I know Jessica for a while. We've been kind of friends. Friends may be a bit too much — we were colleagues. Is that a good word? We used to train together sometimes; we used to do some crazy things when I was at the fights when she fought or when I fought. We used to have good times, many good times," Jedrzejczyk said.
Jedrzejczyk also opened up about her chances against Andrade having already had a number of sparring sessions with her. Despite that, she said she did learn a few things but admitted things will be totally different inside the octagon. She also said that the Brazilian is different now compared o what she was back then.
Check out Joanna Jedrzejczyk's complete interview right here.
"That I can submit her and I can knock her out. But the fight is different. It was in the past. Jessica is a very dangerous opponent. She drops from 125. She's very strong in the Strawweight division," Jedrzejczyk said.
"I know that people are getting a little too crazy. When they have a chance to deal with the big media or big events. I heard a few things from Jessica. I know she's a different person. I'm calm. I hope we're gonna have a good relationship before the fight, after the fight. That she's not gonna get crazy before this fight."
Recently the UFC announced that they are considering crowning an inaugural women's flyweight champion at the end of Season 26 of "The Ultimate Fighter," and Jedrzejczyk said that she would love to be the champion of two divisions. She is also looking to surpass Ronda Rousey with the most successful title defences. If she wins at UFC 211, she will take her tally to five which is just one short of Rousey.
"Of course, I said that a long time ago. I would like to become champion in two different weight classes. It might happen next year. Ronda Rousey, she had six title defences. I want to get to that spot, as well. Number 5 is next week in Dallas, and for sure I want to have one more fight this year, maybe two. We'll see how I feel after this. I like to break records," Jedrzejczyk said.
