It’s official. Joanna Jedrzejczyk will defend her UFC Strawweight Championship against Claudia Gadelha in her next fight, though that bout will not happen until July.
It was announced during Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 81 broadcast that Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha will serve as the coaches of the 23rd season of The Ultimate Fighter this spring, and they’ll face off in the main event of the TUF 23 Finale on July 8 in Las Vegas. That event comes one night before UFC 200 in the same city.
The bout is a rematch of a three round fight the two had in December of 2014, with Jedrzejczyk taking a still somewhat questionable split decision. On the strength of that win, Jedrzejczyk met Carla Esparza for the title, and the rest is history. The Polish superstar took that title by force, decimated Jessica Penne for her first title defense, and beat a game Valerie Letourneau in November for her second.
Gadelha has just one win since that fight with Jedrzejczyk, but it was a significant one. The Brazilian took on WSOF Champ Jessica Aguilar – a woman some felt was the No. 1 women’s strawweight in the world prior to the UFC adopting the division – and now gets her second crack at Jedrzejczyk.
[Photo (c) Tom Heitman via USA Today Sports]
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