Joanna: I’d have moved up to 125 if I’d beaten Namajunas at UFC 217

Joanna Jedrzejczyk says she would’ve been at flyweight already had she beaten Rose Namajunas at UFC 217.

This weekend at UFC 223 will be the first time in three years where Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be entering a title fight as the challenger. The Polish multiple time Muay Thai and Kickboxing champion will be running it back with current 115-pound champion Rose Namajunas, whom she first fought at UFC 217 last November.

Jedrzejczyk is determined to get back the title she was able to successfully defend for five consecutive times. So much so that she is treating the fight as the most important one she will ever take at this point.

“What I can say is it’s going to be bigger than my whole fight career,” Jedrzejczyk told MMAWeekly. “Only one night. Only one fight. It’s going to be bigger than 14 years of my fighting career. Mark my words.”

“I’m very confident. I just need to be patient and the queen is back.”

In the midst of her title reign over the last couple of years, Jedrzejczyk has also thought about the idea of moving up in weight. It is still something she foresees doing soon, but not without reclaiming the title that she feels rightfully belongs to her.

“If I won the fight with Rose Namajunas (at UFC 217), I was planning to move up because your body’s changing,” Jedrzejczyk said. “It’s not that I’m eating too much. I eat very clean. I eat very healthy but your body’s changing. You’re getting older, your body’s changing.”

“It was my plan to move up but right now I must and I will get what belongs to me.”

The 30-year-old Jedrzejczyk admitted to having struggled during her weight cut in preparation for UFC 217 and continues to blame this mishap for her first career loss five months ago.

UFC 223 takes place this Saturday in Brooklyn, New York. It will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between featherweight champion Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov.