Joanna Jedrzejczyk wants to be Joanna Champion again, and hoped to take a big step back in that direction Saturday night at UFC Tampa.
#5 Jedrzejczyk was returning to the division she dominated for years, following an unsuccessful flyweight attempt. In the weeks before the fight, Jedrzejczyk reportedly told the UFC she wouldn't be able to make weight. Her opponent, Michelle Waterson -- a former atomweight, wasn't interested in taking the fight if Jedrzejczyk couldn't make the strawweight limit.
Joanna chewed through the legs of the #7 Waterson early and often, dominating the fight in the clinch, and at range. Waterson briefly threatened a rear naked choke in round 3, but was quickly thwarted.
Elsewhere on the show, #3 Deiveson Figueiredo defeated #6 Tim Elliott in the UFC's Flyweight division with the quickness. In just over three minutes, Figueiredo choked out Elliott, and put himself in contention for the company's 125-pound title.
What a fight!#UFCTampa pic.twitter.com/l6wGcFkvfb
— UFC (@ufc) October 13, 2019
The co-main event saw Cub Swanson slug it out with the unbeaten Kron Gracie. The latter wasn't able to get the fight to the ground as his family name would suggest he'd want to, but showed an incredible amount of grit and determination to survive an insane number of strikes. Swanson took Gracie to the limit in one of the best fights of the year, and earned a unanimous decision victory.
Also, just four months after giving birth, Mackenzie Dern returned to the cage. Unfortunately for her, Amanda Ribas was in her way and controlled the action on the feet on her way to a unanimous decision victory. Niko Price would also make headlines with his huge upkick KO of former top 15 fighter James Vick, which you can see at this link.
Fightful had full, live coverage of UFC Tampa at this link.
