Joanna Jędrzejczyk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Joanna Jędrzejczyk |
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Jędrzejczyk in 2022
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| Born | Joanna Jędrzejczyk August 18, 1987 Olsztyn, Poland |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| Weight | 115 lb (52 kg; 8 st 3 lb) |
| Division | Kickboxing: Super bantamweight Featherweight MMA: Strawweight (2014–2018, 2019–2022) Flyweight (2012–2014, 2018) |
| Reach | 65+1⁄2 in (166 cm) |
| Style | Muay Thai, Kickboxing |
| Fighting out of | Olsztyn, Poland |
| Team | Team Mr. Perfect (2008–2010) Berkut Arrachion Olsztyn (2012–2016) American Top Team (2016–2022) |
| Rank | Blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Artur Wasilevski |
| Years active | 2012–2022 |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 30 |
| Wins | 27 |
| By knockout | 4 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 21 |
| Wins | 16 |
| By knockout | 4 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 11 |
| Losses | 5 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Amateur Muay Thai record | |
| Total | 40 |
| Wins | 37 |
| Losses | 3 |
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last updated on: June 13, 2022
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Joanna Jędrzejczyk (born August 18, 1987) is a Polish former professional athlete. She competed in mixed martial arts (MMA), Muay Thai, and kickboxing. Joanna is famous for her time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
In the UFC, she was the UFC Women's Strawweight Champion. She holds records like the most successful strawweight title defenses (5). She also had the most wins in a row at strawweight (8). Joanna was the first champion from Poland and the first female European champion in the UFC. Many people, including fellow fighter Daniel Cormier, called her the best female strawweight mixed martial artist ever. They said she helped make the weight class very popular.
Joanna found Muay Thai when she was a teenager. She won six medals, including five gold, at the IFMA World Muaythai Championships. She also held many championship titles in kickboxing. In May 2012, she started competing in mixed martial arts (MMA). She won her first nine fights without losing. In March 2015, she won the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. She defended her title five times over the next two years. Her first MMA loss happened in November 2017 when she lost her championship. Joanna retired from mixed martial arts in June 2022.
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Muay Thai and Kickboxing Journey
Joanna Jędrzejczyk started learning Muay Thai when she was 16 years old. She was taking fitness classes and soon began competing. She fought in Muay Thai and kickboxing for 10 years. During this time, she won over 60 matches.
As an amateur, she earned six world medals from the IFMA. Five of these were gold medals, and one was silver. She also won four IFMA European championships. Her amateur record was 37 wins and only 3 losses. In her professional career, Joanna won five world titles. These included the WKN World Championship and the WMC Championship. Her professional record was 27 wins and 3 losses.
Mixed Martial Arts Career
Starting in MMA
Joanna Jędrzejczyk began her professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career on May 19, 2012. She won her first fight by a unanimous decision. On December 8, 2012, she won another fight by submission. This means she used a special hold to make her opponent give up. In June 2013, she defeated a top Russian fighter by unanimous decision.
By July 2013, Joanna was ranked among the top women's flyweight fighters in the world. On June 7, 2014, she won a fight by knockout in the second round.
Joining the UFC
Joanna officially joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in July 2014. She started fighting in the strawweight division. Her first UFC fight was on July 26, 2014, which she won by unanimous decision.
Her next fight was against Cláudia Gadelha on December 13, 2014. Joanna won this fight by a split decision. This means some judges thought she won, and others thought her opponent won. The decision was debated by many MMA experts.
Becoming a Champion
On March 14, 2015, Joanna Jędrzejczyk fought Carla Esparza for the UFC Strawweight Championship. Joanna won the fight by TKO (Technical Knockout) in the second round. This made her the first UFC champion from Poland. She was also the first female European UFC champion. For her great performance, she earned a "Performance of the Night" bonus.
Joanna's first time defending her title was on June 20, 2015, against Jessica Penne. She won by TKO in the third round after many punches and a knee. Both fighters received "Fight of the Night" honors for their exciting match. After this fight, Joanna had surgery for a broken thumb.
For her second title defense, Joanna fought Valérie Létourneau on November 15, 2015. She won by unanimous decision and kept her title. In this fight, Joanna landed 220 significant strikes. This was the most ever in a UFC championship fight at that time. She also landed 70 leg kicks, which was a new UFC record.
In early 2016, Joanna became a coach on the TV show The Ultimate Fighter 23. Her opponent coach was Cláudia Gadelha. They had a rematch on July 8, 2016. Joanna won again by unanimous decision. Both fighters earned "Fight of the Night" honors.
Joanna defended her title for the fourth time on November 12, 2016. She defeated fellow Polish fighter Karolina Kowalkiewicz by unanimous decision. This fight took place at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden.
On May 13, 2017, Joanna faced Jéssica Andrade at UFC 211. She won by unanimous decision, defending her title for the fifth time. In this fight, Joanna landed 225 significant strikes. This was the most in UFC championship history. She also broke her own record for leg kicks with 75.
For her sixth title defense, Joanna fought Rose Namajunas on November 4, 2017. In a big surprise, she lost the fight by knockout in the first round. This was her first professional loss in mixed martial arts.
After Losing the Championship
Joanna had a rematch with Rose Namajunas on April 7, 2018. She lost this fight by unanimous decision.
On July 28, 2018, Joanna fought Tecia Torres. She won this fight by unanimous decision.
Moving to Flyweight
On December 8, 2018, Joanna moved up a weight class to flyweight. She fought Valentina Shevchenko for the vacant UFC Women's Flyweight Championship. Joanna lost this fight by unanimous decision.
Returning to Strawweight
Joanna returned to the strawweight division on October 12, 2019. She fought Michelle Waterson-Gomez and won by unanimous decision.
On March 7, 2020, Joanna faced Zhang Weili for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. She lost the fight by split decision. Many experts called this fight the greatest in women's MMA history. It also earned her the "Fight of the Night" award.
Joanna and Zhang had a rematch on June 11, 2022. Joanna lost the fight by knockout in the second round. After the fight, Joanna announced her retirement from mixed martial arts. She said she wanted to be a mom and a businesswoman after training for over 20 years.
On March 10, 2024, it was announced that Joanna Jędrzejczyk would be added to the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2024.
Fighting Style
Joanna Jędrzejczyk is known for her very accurate and powerful striking. She uses a "sprawl-and-brawl" style in MMA. This means she tries to keep the fight standing and avoid being taken to the ground. When standing, she uses many different punches, body shots, knees, elbows, and high kicks. She also uses quick sets of strikes to confuse her opponents before landing a strong hit.
Even though she is a tough fighter, Joanna is usually calm and kind to her fans. However, before fights, she often uses "trash-talk" to get into her opponents' heads. Her fights are known for being exciting and intense. UFC president Dana White has praised her, calling her "bad ass" and the "best female fighter on Earth." Many MMA experts say Joanna's fights are "must-see TV."
Experts have praised Joanna's excellent sprawl-and-brawl strategy. They compare her to famous fighters like Chuck Liddell and José Aldo for her strong technical striking. Her coaches for strength and conditioning are Phil Daru and Jose Rojas. In 2021, she earned a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Personal Life
Joanna Jędrzejczyk is Catholic. She prays with a rosary before she enters the fighting ring.
She was engaged to a former Polish football player, Przemysław Buta. In 2019, she shared that they were no longer engaged.
Film and TV Appearances
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
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| 2019 | Kobiety mafii 2 | Prisoner | ||
| 2021 | Invincible | Herself | Documentary |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
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| 2015 | Szpital | Herself | TV series Season 5 Episode 399 |
Achievements and Awards
Mixed Martial Arts
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Hall of Fame (Modern Wing, Class of 2024)
- UFC Women's Strawweight Championship (One time)
- She successfully defended her title five times.
- She had the third most title fights in UFC Women's history (10).
- She had the most title fights in UFC Women's Strawweight history (9).
- She is tied for the most title fight wins in UFC Women's Strawweight history (6).
- She was the first Polish-born champion in UFC history.
- Performance of the Night (one time) against Carla Esparza.
- Fight of the Night (three times) against Jessica Penne, Cláudia Gadelha, and Zhang Weili (first fight).
- She is tied for the fourth most Post-Fight bonuses in UFC Strawweight division history (4).
- She is tied for the third most wins in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (10).
- She had the longest win streak in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (8).
- She is tied for the most decision wins in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (8).
- She landed the second most significant strikes in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (1676).
- She had the second most total strikes landed in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (1863).
- She had the longest average fight time in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (18:09).
- She had the second most total fight time in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (4:14:10).
- She landed the most significant strikes per minute in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (6:59).
- She had the highest striking difference in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (3.37).
- She had the second highest takedown defense percentage in UFC Women's Strawweight division history (89.3%).
- She had the third highest significant strike difference in UFC championship history (+142 vs. Jéssica Andrade).
- She is tied for the most leg kicks in a fight in UFC history (+76 vs Michelle Waterson-Gomez).
- She is tied for the third-most leg kicks in a fight in UFC history (+75 vs Jéssica Andrade).
- She was the first Polish UFC Champion.
- She was the first female European UFC Champion.
- She was the third European UFC Champion.
- UFC Honors Awards
- 2020: President's Choice Fight of the Year Winner (vs. Zhang Weili 1).
- UFC.com Awards
- 2014: Ranked #9 Newcomer of the Year.
- 2015: Best Fighter of the First Half-Year & Ranked #3 Fighter of the Year.
- 2016: Ranked #5 Fighter of the Year & Ranked #6 Fight of the Year (vs. Cláudia Gadelha 2).
- 2020: Fight of the Year (vs. Zhang Weili 1).
- Other Awards
- 2015 Female Fighter of the Year by Fight Matrix and MMAjunkie.com.
- 2020 Fight of the Year by Yahoo! Sports, MMAjunkie.com, Sherdog.com, World MMA Awards, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, MMA Fighting, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Cageside Press, BT Sport, MMA Weekly, and Combat Press (all for her fight vs. Zhang Weili).
Kickboxing
- J-Girls Kickboxing Federation
- 2009 J-Girls World Featherweight Champion
- World Budokai Federation
- 2013 WBKF Pro Title
- World Kickboxing Federation
- 2010 WKF European Champion
Muay Thai
- IFMA World Championships
- Gold medal in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009 (all -57 kg).
- Silver medal in 2008 (-57 kg).
- IFMA European Championships
- 3x IFMA European Champion (2008, 2012)
- World Muaythai Council
- WMC/EMF European Champion (one time)
- World Kickboxing Network
- 2010 WKN Muay Thai World -57 kg Champion (one time)
Images for kids
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Jędrzejczyk in 2022
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Jędrzejczyk posing with the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship Belt
See also
In Spanish: Joanna Jędrzejczyk para niños
