Current women's strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0) will defend her belt in a rematch against #1 ranked jiu-jitsu artist, Claudia "Claudinha" Gadelha (13-1)
On July 8th in Las Vegas at The Ultimate Fighter, Finale is the main event of the evening.
What we know about Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Jedrzejczyk is an elite Muay Thai artist that has many years of training. Predominately the best striker inside of the division today. She has gained the title of becoming the first Polish Champion her country has ever seen. Her brutal domination at UFC 193 over Valerie Letourneau (8-5) was a brawl till the end as Joanna defended her title and won with a decision.
Joanna is ranked #12 as the best pound-for-pound fighter inside of the UFC. Her striking is so powerful that you can get rocked with a jab and across. She is very patient and knows how to stay on her toes. She is a very smart and technical fighter. If the fight needs to go to the ground she has a very solid defense for takedowns.
The polish champ claims she turns into a completely different person in fights. I feel we will see the best Joanna Jedrzejczyk we have seen yet in the strawweight division.
What we know about Claudia Gadelha
Gadelha is by far Champion material. She holds a three-time championship record in BJJ as a brown belt. The Brazilian native is a very well-rounded fighter. Her strength might be on the ground, but her striking is very sharp and very clean. She has undeniable power with every punch by far. She was looking ready when she fought Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190.
Even though the fight ended up coming to a decision, that win was well deserved. She trains with former Champion, Jose Aldo when she is back home in Brazil for team Nova União. Her skills match her record as she has always remained at the top of the rankings in the women's strawweight division.
SO WHAT DO I THINK OF ALL THIS??
For these 2 I don't think the feud ever ended. Gadelha feels that she was robbed for the belt when she faced Jedrzejczyk for the first time at UFC Fight night back in December 2014. That fight went all the way till the end until the judges made the decision in raising Joanna's hand in the end. As they coach apart from each other on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter it has been back and forth bickering.
There has been a behind the scene scuffle during the show's taping as the heat rises between the 2. "Claudinha" is going to come with all guns blazing because she feels she should have already had that belt. She feels that the judges made a mistake with the scoring so she is going to make sure that never happens again. As TEAM Gadelha has been dominated by TEAM Jedrzejczyk so I know they are going to be fighting for their team just as much as themselves.
In ways, it might seem that Joanna is a one-rounded fighter coming from her Muay Thai background. She will try everything to keep the fight from going to the ground. However, Claudia can fight any way rather than just defend. When that first bell rings once they are inside of the octagon I can see these two sparrings back and forth for a good 15-20 seconds because I can just see the aggression having to get out since they have been holding it back so much.
Once they get past that stage and start feeling each other out they will keep to their feet most of the first round until Claudia ends up getting a successful takedown over Joanna. It is not going to be easy though because her defense is just too good. I have a feeling Gadelha is going to be coming for the TKO hard.
I really do have a feeling she will be the one regaining her original loss to now become the new Champ. There will be no-decision in the end from the judges. Guaranteed Claudia's hands will get raised by the end of the night.