Las Vegas, NV – Karolina Kowalkiewicz had a former opponent set up her training camp.
With her back against the wall and her career on the line, Kowalkiewicz came up with a huge win when he defeated Felice Herring via second-round submission. The Polish fighter is now 2-0 against Herring, defeating her in 2018 at UFC 223.
It was a must-win fight for Kowalkiewicz, and she knew it as she changed everything. She went to Florida for her training camp, leaving her family and dog in Poland. Former strawweight champion and former opponent Joanna Jedrzejczyk set up the camp for her country mate.
“Joanna really helped me to organize this whole fight camp. JJ, thank you very much. I am here because of you. Yeah, this win is teamwork,” Kowalkiewicz told Cageside Press in her UFC Vegas 56 post-fight interview.
After her win, she let out a scream of emotion. It was a much-needed move as the fan-favorite fighter was on a five-fight skid.
“It’s easy to love the sport when you are champion, when you are winning your fights,” Kowalkiewicz said. “But when you start losing, when you lose one, two, or three fights and you still love it, it means that you are a real martial artist. And I am a martial artist, and I love MMA. I love the UFC. I love to be a part of UFC. This is my home. What can I say? This is my home.”
She also has a new home – American Top Team in Florida. The 36-year-old will do all of her fight camps at ATT from now on. “I said this today, or one time I am not ‘Polish Princess’ anymore. I am ‘Polish TNT’ from ATT.”
Kowalkiewicz wants to fight again soon but will take some time with the family that she left for her training camp.
“Tomorrow I’m back to my home, to my family. I need to spend some time with my family, take a short vacation and relax because this is very important too. After vacation, I want to go back to ATT to train and fight again,” Kowalkiewicz said.
Watch the rest of Karolina Kowalkiewicz’s post-fight interview.
