Joanna Jedrzejczyk thinks history is going to repeat itself against Carla Esparza.
After Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) claimed the UFC strawweight title from Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 this past weekend in a heavily criticized split decision, Jedrzejczyk (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) appears perfectly posed to get a chance to fight for the belt.
First, of course, she has to get through her rematch with Zhang Weili at UFC 275 on June 9, which will be no easy task. Jedrzejczyk is confident she will get it done, though, and go on to challenge Esparza.
It’s a familiar situation, because Jedrzejczyk successfully went through it before. After Esparza won the inaugural 115-pound belt from Namajunas in December 2014, her reign would quickly come to an end just a few months later courtesy of a lopsided TKO win for Jedrzejczyk.
Jedrzejczyk couldn’t explain why Esparza and Namajunas put on such a dud, but not she sees the new champ as a juicy target.
“I don’t know what happened, but when you feel – that first round wasn’t good. The second wasn’t, and sometimes you have to do something to get the victory,” Jedrzejczyk told reporters on Monday’s UFC 275 media day. “Even paying a big price. But I don’t know what happened. Til the end of the fight I thought Rose got it, but no. Like Carla, I really thought she was going to look better. I was like, ‘This girl is going to look better. She has so many win streak.’ But for me, she looked the same as when we fought for the belt seven years ago in Dallas. And history likes to make a circle. And soon (I’m) to be the champ.”
Jedrzejczyk hasn’t fought in more than two years. The former longtime UFC titleholder last competed in March 2020 when she had a Fight of the Year war with Weili at UFC 248, losing by unanimous decision.
The pair are set to run it back in the featured bout of UFC 275, which takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Despite the long break from competition, Jedrzejczyk said she’s motivated to be back and is driven to get revenge over Weili before another rematch with Esparza that would lead to UFC gold.
“Before I accept the fight with Weili Zhang, I knew that I was going to fight for the belt,” Jedrzejczyk said. “After the first fight with Weili Zhang, I knew that I was going to be the next one in line. Sometimes it takes time and other girls have to fight for the belt as well and I Just wanted to be back. Here we go, we have a big fight. Fighting Weili Zhang for the second time is a big motivation for the me because I can be better every single day.”
