After Sparring Sessions, Joanna Jedrzejczyk Confident She Can Finish Jessica Andrade
It was not too long ago when current UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk was friendly with Jessica Andrade. Although they were not the best of friends, they did share a manager and had sparring sessions. Jedrzejczyk took part in a UFC 211 media lunch in Century City to promote her fight with Andrade, and during the lunch, she reflected on their relationship.
“I know Jessica for a while,” Jedrzejczyk explained to MMA Fighting. “We’ve been kind of friends. Friends may be a bit too much — we were colleagues. Is that a good word? We used to train together sometimes, we used to do some crazy things when I was at the fights when she fought or when I fought. We used to have good times, many good times.”
Jedrzejczyk will defend her title against Andrade in the co-main event of UFC 211, which takes place next Saturday. Jedrzejczyk stated that she did learn some things from their sparring sessions but did acknowledge that an actual fight is a totally different animal.
“That I can submit her and I can knock her out,” Jedrzejczyk said when asked what she gleaned. “But the fight is different. It was in the past. Jessica is a very dangerous opponent. She drops from 125. She’s very strong in the strawweight division.”
There has been some tension between the two fighters as Andrade has said some things in the press that Jedrzejczyk hasn’t been too happy. According to the champ, she believes they were facilitated by her former manager and Andrade’s current manager Tiago Okamura of SuckerPunch Entertainment.
“Everything is good,” she said. “Jessica says a few things, but I know she cannot speak English very well, so probably it was Tiago, who used to be my manager and friend. The thing is, I don’t mind. It’s all about the fight. Like I said, we used to train together, spar together a little bit. But it’s all about this fight.”
Jedrzejczyk, who is undefeated, has been on a roll in the UFC as she has four title defenses and is the second most tenured champion in the UFC after Demetrious Johnson. She is going after former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s record for most UFC title defenses in a women’s division (six). Jedrzejczyk made it clear that her fight with Andrade is business, not personal unlike her long feud with Claudia Gadelha. However, Andrade has made comments about Jedrzejczyk as she criticized Jedrzejczyk’s punching power
“They always want to talk,” Jedrzejczyk said. But I let my fists talk in the Octagon. Jessica didn’t face someone tough like me. I let her taste the power of my fist. That’s the thing. I know that people are getting a little too crazy,” Jedrzejczyk. “When they have a chance to deal with the big media or big events. I heard a few things from Jessica. I know she’s a different person. I’m calm. I hope we’re gonna have a good relationship before the fight, after the fight. That she’s not gonna get crazy before this fight. Because becoming a challenger, it’s a pretty big deal for everyone. But it’s not easy to become a champion and deal with it. It’s even more difficult than just being a fighter or a challenger.”
