Las Vegas, NV — Joanna Jedrzejczyk admits that she has the itch to compete again, but it seems as if it would be for a very specific opportunity.
“I don’t have a name in my head. I don’t know, however. I’m not afraid to fight anybody, that’s the thing,” Jedrzejczyk told Cageside Press at the recent UFC X fan expo.
There is one set of circumstances that might lure Jedrzejczyk out of retirement, however. The Polish fighter and former women’s strawweight champ was recently inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and previously contemplated a comeback, until injury scuttled that. But talk has continued of her potentially fighting for a women’s BMF belt.
“When they brought my name [up for the BMF] I texted Hunter [Campbell] right away, and I was like ‘so Hunter, what do you think about me fighting for the female BMF belt?’ and he was like ‘uh-uh, you don’t need more titles.’ This is what I love about the UFC, they don’t force you to things you don’t want to do.”
Jedrzejczyk knows that her name in the mix would bring extra attention to a PPV with the BMF belt attached, but “they want you to do what you really want to do. That’s why I love them even more.”
That said, there was definitely a “but” coming, and it arrived with “Joanna Champion” adding that “if they create the BMF for women, I want to be the first one. I will come out of my retirement to fight for the BMF belt. Let’s go!”
Now 36, Jedrzejczyk has not fought since a loss to Weili Zhang with the women’s strawweight title on the line in June of 2022. The fight was a rematch of their 2020 initial encounter, considered by many the best women’s fight of all time, and one of the best fights of all time, regardless of gender.
Watch our full interview with Joanna Jedrzejczyk above.
