Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 228, Poland’s Karolina Kowalkiewicz stepped into the cage with Brazil’s Jessica Andrade. The expectation was that, if Kowalkiewicz won this fight, she’d receive the next crack at UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, who she holds a victory over.
Unfortunately for Karolina Kowalkiewicz and her many fans, however, this fight did not go the was she planned. Instead, she was clubbed to a brutal, first-round knockout loss by her fearsome adversary Jessica Andrade.
Shortly after this tough loss, Kowalkiewicz took to social media to issue a brief statement. While she is clearly disappointed, she also seems determined to learn from the defeat and come back stronger than ever.
— KarolinaKowalkiewicz (@KarolinaMMA) September 9, 2018
“Hi guys, I just want to say thank you for your support and I’m sorry,” Karolina Kowalkiewicz said in the English portion of her video statement. “I’m okay, it wasn’t my day, it was Jessica’s day, so big congratulations for Jessica and give me some time and I’ll be back stronger, I promise.”
With this tough knockout loss, which is the first knockout defeat of her career, Karolina Kowalkiewicz returns to the loss column after back-to-back decision wins over Felice Herrig and Jodie Esquibel. She is now 12-3 overall, with her previous losses coming courtesy of Claudia Gadelha, and former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who she lost a decision to in a 2016 strawweight title fight.
Where do you think Karolina Kowalkiewicz will go from here? Who do you want to see her fight next? Join the conversation in the comments section below.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/10/2018.