Fresh off her decision victory over Claudia Gadelha at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale on July 8th, plans are already in the works for UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s next title defense.
After her huge win over Rose Namajunas in the co-main event of UFC 201, Karolina Kowalkiewicz has seemingly penciled herself in as the next challenger for the strawweight championship. But despite UFC President Dana White stating that the fight isn’t official, the process of setting up the bout is already ongoing.
When speaking to Fox Sports after UFC 201. UFC President Dana White talked about the possibility of a matchup between the reigning champion and Kowalkiewicz taking place in their homeland of Poland.
“It’s the one that makes sense. But we’ve got to get back to the office and figure out what to do,” he said. “I’d love to do that fight in Poland.”
White also talked about the fact that it was the champion who wanted Kowalkiewicz in the organization in the first place.
“The funny thing is that Joanna Jedrzejczyk wanted us to sign her and said, ‘I want to prove to everybody in Poland that I’m the best,’” White said. “And now she has worked her way up to a possible title shot with Joanna Jedrzejczyk, so it’s very interesting.”
Despite Jedrzejczyk seemingly advocating for the UFC to bring Kowalkiewicz aboard, the strawweight challenger is claiming that the current title holder isn’t ready for the challenge.
“I think she’s scared,” she said about the possibility of her not being next in line for a shot.
Jedrzejczyk is 12-0-0 in her career with four TKOs and one submission.
By Mike Straw
