Joanna Jedrzejczyk wants her potential first title defense to be a big money fight and she believes that is the trilogy against Rose Namajunas.
In the co-main event of UFC 248, Jedrzejczyk will take on Weili Zhang in the Chinese champion’s first title defense. It is a fight the Pole is confident she will win as she knows she’s the better fighter and will reclaim her throne on March 7.
If Joanna Jedrzejczyk does indeed reclaim her title, she has options for her first title defense with the likes of Tatiana Suarez, and a Jessica Andrade rematch. But, if she had her choice she would want the trilogy against Rose Namajunas. She says it is a fight she knows she can win.
“I am really proud of myself and my team of how we fought that last fight against Rose Namajunas. The fight could have gone either way and the loss was hard to swallow and maybe I didn’t do enough. Now, I know I believe in myself 100 percent and can do enough to win,” Jedrzejczyk said to BJPENN.com. “I’m really happy for Rose that she is back and fighting Andrade and having the rematch. We will see what is next, but that fight makes sense as it is big money. I want that one.”
Jedrzejczyk and Namajunas first met back at UFC 217 where Namajunas was a sizeable underdog but shocked the world with a first-round knockout win. The two had an immediate rematch at UFC 223 where Namajunas won a very close decision.
Since then, Namajunas was knocked out by Jessica Andrade at UFC 237 and will return against Andrade at UFC 249. If the American can get her hand raised and Jedrzejczyk beats Zhang as she suspects, that is the fight she wants.
It would no doubt a very intriguing fight and one that does make sense barring both win their next fight.
Would you be interested in seeing Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Rose Namajunas 3 if both of them win their next fight?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/24/2020.