Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will make her fourth title defence against fellow undefeated Polish star Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 205 inside Madison Square Garden, New York City this Saturday. This fight will mark the first of three title fights on the card followed by Tyron Woodley vs Stephen Thomspon and Eddie Alvarez vs Conor McGregor.
Jedrzejczyk is undefeated with three UFC fight-night bonuses and five stoppages since making her pro debut in 2012. The champion has wins over the likes of Carla Esparza, Jessica Penne, Valerie Letourneau and Claudia Gadelha on her resume and will be hoping she can add the challenger to the list of her defeated opponents. Jerdzejczyk is coming off a 5 round decision victory over bitter rival Gadelha at TUF 23 Finale back in July and as we draw closer to fight night the tension between these two fighters has now hit boiling point.
As the two met for the pre-fight face off on Thursday Joanna stormed across the stage straight into the face of Kowalkiewicz who didn’t flinch pressing nose to nose with the champion. Both fighters continued to press noses but Jerdzejczyk as unpredictable as ever had enough responding with a headbutt pushing the challenger away. Dana White immediately intervened and separated the two but Jerdzejczyk wasn’t finished there kissing her fist and pointing it towards Kowalkiewicz before leaving the stage.
Kowalkiewicz a former KSW champion has made her way up the rankings with victories over Randa Markos, Heather Jo Clark and former title challenger Rose Namajunas. The 30 year old cemented her top contender status with a Fight of the Night win over Namajunas which came via split decision at UFC 201. Despite struggling with the speed of Namajunas Kowalkiewicz came away with the win and enters this title fight with a perfect record of 10-0.
The challenger looks very confident coming into the fight and now has the opportunity to avenge a loss from back in their amateur days. Friday night at the official UFC 205 weigh-ins both females weighed in at 114.5 lbs however this time did not come nose to nose, Dana White keeping a clear distance between the Poles as the Champ held a straight arm and fist at her opponent.
This fight will mark one of the rare title bouts between two undefeated fighters in this Poland vs Poland matchup.
