Joanna Jedrzejczyk has never been short or confidence, nor has she been shy about broadcasting this attribute about herself. Even after losing to Rose Namajunas twice, the self-proclaimed strawweight queen has never seen a reduction in any of that self-belief that helped catapult her to where she has been. When Jedrzejczyk received word during UFC Calgary Media Day that her opponent tomorrow night, Tecia Torres, had trained with Rose Namajunas in preparation for the strawweight bout, this did wonders for Jedrzejczyk’s already sky-high confidence level:
“It means that I’m so tough they have to get in groups and gangs to prepare for the fights with me,” Jedrzejczyk told reporters. “That’s the point. I appreciate it. They have to learn from each other how to try to beat Joanna. They can’t do this. That’s the point. Karolina Kowalkiewicz did the same. She went to my old gym to train before the fight with Claudia Gadelha. Rose was training with someone else. Tecia is training with Rose. I don’t care. It means a lot to me. It means that I’m the baddest chick on the planet. Thank you, girls.”
In an interview earlier this week, though, Torres claimed that while she was training with Rose Namajunas, she will look to use her own strategy in the bout:
“I prefer to keep [the game plans] separate,” Torres told Bloody Elbow. “At the end of the day, it’s me who is going in there. I mean, Rose and her team definitely know how to beat her, but me and my coaches have our own game plan.”
Tecia Torres is currently a +245 underdog, with Jedrzejczyk coming in as a -290 favorite. If Joanna wins, she hinted that a title shot has been discussed with Dana White:
“I cannot tell you,” Jedrzejczyk said about her discussion with Dana White about a potential title shot. “It’s between me and him. It’s his birthday tomorrow, so I must win for Dana White and make him smile because of my victory. You will hear that very soon.”
It seems unlikely the “that” we will hear very soon would be anything other than a title shot, but first things first, Joanna must get past the Tiny Tornado tomorrow night in Calgary to have any hope of reclaiming her previously held strawweight championship.
UFC on FOX 30 takes place Saturday at Scotiabank Saddledome, and it airs on FOX following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
What’s your prediction for this pivotal strawweight bout?
