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Former UFC women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk may be enjoying vacation a little too much. The Polish fighter is currently vacationing in Bulgaria, and she has been sharing multiple pictures and videos of her time in the sun. In a photo that she shared on July 11, however, Jedrzejczyk dropped a major retirement hint.
In the caption of the Instagram post, Jedrzejczyk wrote: “#33andretired.” The former strawweight queen has not spoken publicly about retiring, and it’s unclear if the fighter truly means what she wrote. Another important point is that Jedrzejczyk is currently 32 years old and will be turning 33 in August.
Here is the Instagram post in question:
Jedrzejczyk last stepped into the Octagon when she attempted to reclaim her crown. She fought reigning strawweight champ, Weili Zhang, in the co-main event of UFC 248 in what turned out to be a fight-of-the-year candidate.
It was a losing effort for Jedrzejczyk, however, as she lost the standup war by a razor-thin split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47). Many fans and analysts watching the technical standup battle scored the fight for Jedrzejczyk, and there were calls after the bout for an immediate rematch.
At this point in time, it appears that current No. 2 ranked Rose Namajunas will get the next shot at Zhang after winning her rematch bout against Jessica Andrade during UFC 251.
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If Jedrzejczyk Retires From MMA, She Will Have a Legacy to Be Proud Of
At one point in time, Jedrzejczyk was one of the most dominant champions in the UFC. She earned the strawweight title after winning her first two bouts in the promotion. She took on the inaugural strawweight champ, Carla Esparza, in March 2015 in one of the most one-sided title fights in history.
After Jedrzejczyk took Esparza’s belt by second-round TKO, the Polish fighter would go on to defend the title five times. She defeated the likes of Jessica Andrade, Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz during her title reign.
From 2015 to late 2017, Jedrzejczyk seemed unbeatable and was quickly emerging as one of the biggest stars in the sport. However, her championship run came to an abrupt halt when she was finished by Rose Namajunas in November 2017 by first-round TKO.
Since that loss, Jedrzejczyk has been unable to recapture gold, going 2-3 in her last five bouts, which include three title fights.
Jedrzejczyk Has Lost 3 Championship Bouts in Her Last 5 Octagon Appearances
The Polish star was granted an immediate rematch after losing her title to Namajunas. Jedrzejczyk lost again, that time by a unanimous decision. She bounced back a few months later, however, defeating Tecia Torres in July 2018.
After that victory, Jedrzejczyk moved up to the women’s flyweight division to challenge Valentina Schevchenko for the vacant title. It was a losing effort, with Jedrzejczyk losing a unanimous decision. She then dropped back down to the strawweight division and defeated top contender Michelle Waterson to earn herself another crack at the title, which was her fight with Zhang.
If Jedrzejczyk does hang up her gloves, she will retire with a professional MMA record of 16-4.
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