“Everyone Thinks I’m Not in the UFC Anymore” – Joanna Jedrzejczyk Breaks Silence; Says Will Fight Zhang Weili in Her Return

Joanna Jedrzejczyk has been out of action for almost two years. The former UFC strawweight champion last entered the octagon at UFC 248 to challenge for the strawweight title. She went toe-to-toe with Zhang Weili in what was an instant classic. Both fighters laid their all on the line and produced a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender.

However, the division has moved on since then. Weili lost the title to Jedrzejczyk’s old rival, Rose Namajunas. Seven months later, she was unsuccessful in her quest to regain the belt as well.

Jedrzejczyk has been away from the sport since March 2020, but now it looks like she’s ready to make her return. In a recent appearance on the Kanal Sportowy show in Poland, the former champ talked about her comeback.

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She said, “Everyone thinks I’m not in the UFC anymore.” I am, I just dropped out of the ranking, because I haven’t fought for a dozen or so months, but I’m coming back and fighting number one. It will probably be Weili Zhang.”

Former UFC champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk announces 2022 return to competition, wants Zhang Weili rematch https://t.co/wLczTniZJR pic.twitter.com/N4ETULG0E5

— Women’s MMA Rankings (@WMMARankings) January 4, 2022

“I thought it might be Carla Esparza, but confirmed that she is the next to fight the championship. Somewhere there is [Maria] Rodriguez, who also fights [Xiaonan] Yan in March, and becomes Weili Zhang. I don’t see any other fight – just going for the belt. Dana [White] made me an offer to fight for the championship, but I would have to wait until November / December and I don’t want to wait. I want to fight.” (translated via Google Translate)

‘Magnum‘, currently on a two-fight losing streak, is still considered the second-best fighter in the division after the champ. A return and possibly a win against her will make Jedrzejczyk a contender immediately.

The UFC removed Joanna Jedrzejczyk from the rankings

Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s last UFC fight was a title bout. Also, she sat inside the top three at strawweight for a long time. However, because of her inactivity since March 2020, Joanna Jedrzejczyk was removed from the rankings. As she is still on the roster, she will get re-inserted once she makes her return.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s removal from the UFC rankings is due to inactivity, I’m told. She’s still on the roster and will be reinserted when she returns to competition. Likely around March 2022. pic.twitter.com/0y7dDFBEUV

— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) October 25, 2021

The Polish fighter won the UFC strawweight title back in 2015 when she beat Carla Esparza at UFC 185. She defended the title five times before dropping it to Rose Namajunas. Fans are eagerly waiting for her return and she would like to make a statement whenever she decides to enter the octagon again.

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Do you think a fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili will happen? Let us know in the comments!

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