Joanna Jedrzejczyk Retires At UFC 275
After her loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 275 Joanna Jedrzejczyk left her gloves in the octagon and announced her retirement from MMA. After her 21-fight career that lasted nearly a decade, Jedrzejczyk established herself as a legend and pioneer of women’s MMA.
“It was just the moment,” Jedrzejczyk said about her decision to retire during the UFC 275 post-fight press conference. “Of course, I had it in the back of my head like maybe there was one day, maybe a year ago, if something happened I might retire because I’ve been in this business for the last 19 years. Lots of investment from myself. It’s time to fully enjoy my life.”
Full quote via MMA Fighting
While Jedrzejczyk is not going out on a win, she has cemented her name in the UFC record books. Jedrzejczyk started her career a perfect 14-0. In just her third UFC bout, she knocked out Carla Esparza to become the UFC women’s strawweight champion. Once she had gold, she defended her title five times. That run was headlined by wins against Jessica Andrade, Claudia Gadelha, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Her five UFC title defenses put her first all-time in strawweight history and fourth in women’s history. The only other women with more defenses are Valentina Shevchenko, Ronda Rousey, and Amanda Nunes. That’s good company.
“Honestly, I had no time to sit on it and think about my legacy and how big it is, and I’m a hard worker,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I always dedicate myself. I give as much as I can and I get as much as I can the same way but now it’s time to fully really enjoy it.”
Full quote via MMA Fighting
From the sounds of it, this will not be the last we see of Jedrzejczyk.
“I’ve been saying that I’m the UFC soldier,” Jedrzejczyk said as she fought back the tears. “I just got a message from [UFC Chief Business Officer] Hunter [Campbell], I love you guys. I want to go on vacation. I’m planning on going to International Fight Week and London and Paris and be around.”
“In the future, I want to be the best manager I can be, learning from the best my manager Jennifer Goldstein, CAA combat sports, Dan Lambert, the owner of [American Top Team]. I want to be around. I just want to be around.”
Full quote via MMA Fighting
Regardless of what Jedrzejczyk does in the future, it will be nice to see her around the UFC. I am sure every UFC fan would love to see Jedrzejczyk fight again but if she feels like it is time to hang up the gloves then she is making the right choice. Most importantly, shoutout to Joanna Jedrzejczyk for a tremendous UFC career.
