Joanna Jedrzejczyk: Your new favourite UFC star

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JJ

Look no further than Joanna Jedrzejczyk (Young-jay-check...we think).

The women’s strawweight champ is the purest striker in the UFC, is undefeated in 11 MMA fights and to put it quite simply, is a badass.

The Polish former Muay Thai champion only signed with the UFC in July 2014 but has taken the MMA world by storm.

She conquered the strawweight division in less than a year, hammering Carla Esparza in a one-sided second-round TKO at UFC 185 in March for the title.

It was the fight that gave her the belt, and the one that really put her on the map.

Video footage of the brutal beating spread like wildfire around social media and a new UFC star was officially born.

Her first title defence was another vicious beat-down, this time on the face of Jessica Penne at UFC Fight Night 69.

This one was possibly more brutal than the Esparza victory.

In reality that fight should probably have been stopped a bit earlier.

She is, without a doubt, the cleanest, purest puncher in the UFC.

Her boxing skills are immense and her power such that she has been forced into a six-month suspension because she broke her hand on Valerie Letourneau’s face during their five round slugfest at UFC 193.

She’s confident in her abilities – but not in the exaggerated, almost paranoid way Ronda Rousey is.

“I'm the champ and I will win. That's all there is to it,” she said calmly and assuredly before the Letourneau fight.

When asked if she thought Letourneau would be able to take her down whenever she wanted, Jedrzejczyk replied: "She can try. Come on, man, if she wants to, just let me know.

"We can go to the ground from the first seconds of the fight and just play there.

"Come on, man. I'm a complete MMA fighter and I'm ready for all of them.

"I think I'm good."

There was a bit of the usual pre-fight bravado, with Jedrzejczyk getting in Letourneau’s face at the weigh-in and declaring she saw fear in the Canadian’s eyes.

But it was more composed than the stressed out, wild-eyed in your face stuff Rousey threw at Holm after their weigh-in.

It's a part of what makes Jedrzejczyk such a badass and why she's one of our favourite fighters in the UFC.

 

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