UFC 223: Joanna Jedrzejczyk says loss to Rose Namajunas ‘showed me who I am’
Joanna Jedrzejczyk reacts at the end of her women's strawweight title mixed martial arts bout against Karolina Kowalkiewicz during a at UFC 205, early Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jedrzejczyk won by decision. Credit: AP / Julio Cortez
Winning a UFC title is a life-changing experience for those fortunate enough to reach the sport’s pinnacle.
Losing the belt, however, is even more impactful, at least according to Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
After being upset by Rose Namajunas and losing her “Joanna Champion” status at UFC 217 last November, Jedrzejczyk said her desire to win is greater than ever.
“The hard work is done, today I had my last sparring session of the camp and I went through this process and actually, it was cool to see that again, to be hungry,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I want the belt so much and I have done everything I could to win this belt on April 7. This loss showed me who I am and who I want to be and who is a real friend and a real teammate or business partner, and this is what I liked about it.”
Jedrzejczyk said she’s learned more in defeat than she ever did in victory, and she’s applying those lessons inside and outside the cage ahead of her title rematch with Namajunas at UFC 223 next week at Barclays Center.
“Life is about learning and I’m happy that I learned that, you know? Because I know that people only see me at the gym or fighting, but I’m so easy-going and have very soft heart and after being so nice and letting people use me, I must have hard heart because it’s not nice to experience very often. But I learned to expect more, of course from myself, but from people of the world. So I’m very happy that I’m surrounded by good people who are on the same page as me and we’re going to get this belt.”
Back in November, Jedrzejczyk was aiming to tie Ronda Rousey’s record for most successful UFC title defenses by a woman, but the stunning first-round knockout to Namajunas at Madison Square Garden put that goal on the shelf.
Now, she believes she can join the select few who’ve bounced back to regain their UFC belt in the cage.
“I know that this victory on April 7 is going to be bigger than all of my UFC victories. This is going to be bigger. I was about to tie Ronda Rousey’s record, but this is something else. There’s not so many champions who were a champion and who did it again, and I’m going to do this again, I’m going to be a champion again.”
