Joanna Jedrzejczyk will compete at flyweight for the first time in the UFC when she battles Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 231 for the vacant flyweight championship. Jedrzejczyk is enjoying the move, especially with some past issues cutting weight to fight at 115, most notably prior to her UFC 217 loss to Rose Namajunas, which saw Jedrzejczyk’s dominant reign as strawweight champion come to an end. Jedrzejczyk accredits that loss to the weight-cutting struggles prior to that event and is now enjoying preparing for a 125-pound bout instead:
“I actually feel great,” Jedrzejczyk told FloCombat about her move up to 125. “I feel my body is recovering better, I sleep better, I eat better, I’m in a better mood. So I’m enjoying this process more than I used to. This is what Mikey Brown said so many times: ‘J, you most move up and enjoy your life.’
“My weight is low,” Jedrzejczyk continued. “I’m trying to even eat more to keep higher weight because I don’t want to put on too much weight ’cause I don’t want this extra weight to impact my training. But I feel good. I feel strong. It’s been great. It’s something new. I don’t know how to go through the weight cut. The last few days aren’t going to be that easy or that funny but still.
“I believe I’m going to be better in the flyweight division.”
Of course Joanna Jedrzejczyk knows far better than to ever overlook Valentina Shevchenko in any capacity, but she has maintained the same long-term goal she has had since before dropping the strawweight title last year: become a two-division champion. And as much as Jedrzejczyk is enjoying the process of joining the flyweight roster, she still seeks to regain the throne she ruled for so long by the end of next year:
“Yes, I will go back. Definitely I will go back,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Somehow yes, I want to face myself, go through the weight cut again, drop to 115. I’m not having problems with the weight. I want to go through this and face the champion again.
“When I lost the belt, I was like, ‘What’s now?’ It’s been a year already. I’m happy. I have a bunch of great fans. I have a life outside the Octagon. But I want to face the champion in the strawweight division next year.”
Do you believe Joanna Jedrzejczyk will achieve her goal of becoming a two-division champion?
