Jedrzejczyk sees life away from octagon
Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s day job is rooted in violence, a necessity of being the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most dominant woman and the second-longest reigning titleholder in the organization.
Yet as the strawweight champion gears up for her latest defense at UFC 211 on Saturday in Dallas, her mind frequently turns to more sedate matters.
Such as coffee. Namely selling it, preferably at a small shop she hopes to open in her native Po- land at the end of her career.
“That is the kind of thing I want to do when I am finished with all this,” Jedrzejzyk (13-0 mixed martial arts, 7-0 UFC) told USA TODAY Sports over lunch recently, before she takes
on Jessica Andrade in her fifth defense of the UFC’s lightest female weight category.
“It is very important for me to have this normal but special future as a mother and a wife. To maybe brew my own coffee and have a small business like a regular person. I have enough money to just live and do nothing, but I am not interested in that.”
After a few more fights, Jedrzejczyk (Yed-zhey-chik) said she plans to return to Poland and rejoin fiancé Przemyslaw Buta, a former soccer player who remains in their homeland while she focuses on training in Florida.
Life away from the octagon is something that has entered Jedrzejczyk’s thoughts more of late, and the wish to start a family has spurred a re-evaluation of her career and its purpose.
She said she thinks about the kind of mother she would be — “strict but cool” — and is well aware that mixed martial arts takes a brutal toll on the body, far beyond whatever damage is inflicted on the night of combat itself.
The process of cutting weight is torturous for men and women, but women have additional concerns about drastic weight shedding affecting their long-term health and fertility.
“Sometimes the fighters are only focused on fighting, but that is too much,” Jedrzejczyk said. “There is today, tomorrow and also the rest of our lives and the things we want to do. If you have a horrible weight cut, it can affect your health and your body in the future. It is something fighters should think about more, especially women.”
Jedrzejczyk, 29, studied physical education in Poland and attended seminars about women’s health that helped shape her viewpoint. She was greatly encouraged by the UFC’s recent addition of a 125-pound division to add to its 115 (strawweight) and 135 ( bantamweight) categories. She said former opponent Valerie Letourneau, now with the Bellator organization, quit the UFC after repeatedly struggling to make the strawweight limit.
“Being an athlete, being a champion, is just part of our lives, part of the story,” Jedrzejczyk said. “After a few years, we are still going to raise kids, be mothers, wives or do some other stuff. We must make sure we are going to be healthy and able to do normal things at home.
“I said that a long time ago that I’d like to be champion in two different weight classes. Now it might happen next year.”
The UFC is planning to assemble a group of 125-pound contenders in a tournament-style setting on its The Ultimate Fight
er reality television show. Jedrzejczyk could eventually face the winner.
However, the immediate challenge for her is Andrade, perhaps the most difficult opponent she has faced since becoming champion. Their bout is one of the ma- jor attractions in a loaded UFC 211 card at American Airlines Arena, which will be headlined by the men’s heavyweight title clash between Stipe Miocic and Junior dos Santos.
Being top dog in the UFC is not easy. Contrast Jedrzejczyk’s run with the fate of the women’s bantamweight division. On the same night she beat Letourneau, Ronda Rousey was spectacularly knocked out by Holly Holm. Holm then surrendered the title to Miesha Tate, before losing twice more in succession. Tate was battered by Amanda Nunes, lost again soon after, then retired. Having the belt is great, but someone else always has sights upon it.
“All eyes are on me now,” Jedrzejczyk said. “My opponents have more time to study my fighting style. The coaches, the camps, they have more time to check my weaknesses and work on that. That is the challenge. But that is what it means to be champion.”