Joanne Calderwood wants title shot in Scotland, says Jedrzejczyk exposed Esparza

Joanne Calderwood hasn’t been told where she stands in the UFC’s strawweight title picture. However, she thinks a quality victory at UFC Fight Night 64 could earn her a crack at Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s belt.

“I don’t know anything (about the next title fight),” Calderwood told MMAjunkie. “The UFC – they always stay one step ahead. They probably know, but at the end of the day, I just have to do my job – which is winning on Saturday night. Nothing else matters.

“I’m just going to get in there and perform then whatever is meant to be is meant to be. A fight with Joanna has got a lot of people talking, but I don’t listen to what other people are expecting. It is just added pressure. I just concentrate on this fight.”

Calderwood (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meets Maryna Moroz (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on Saturday in a main card bout at UFC Fight Night 64. The event streams on UFC Fight Pass from Tauron Arena in Krakow, Poland.

After scoring a dominant win over Seo Hee Ham in her UFC debut in December, Calderwood wanted to return to the octagon as quickly as possible. It looked like an extended layoff was in her future, though, because the UFC wanted to reserve her a spot on its first card in her home country of Scotland in July.

The 28-year-old nearly came to grips with the reality it could be seven months between fights, but after she conducted an interview declaring her desire to compete sooner, she was matched against Moroz.

“After speaking to Sean Shelby at UFC Sweden, I didn’t think I would get on the card,” Calderwood said. “I just expressed that (in an interview) and it exploded with support. I didn’t do the interview wanting that to happen. People were watching and wanted to see me fight so they started harassing the UFC, and mostly Sean Shelby. I don’t know if it was in their plans all along. You don’t really know with the UFC. I don’t know if I got the spot because if I was campaigning or if it was in the plans all along.”

The 115-pound division is the newest of the UFC’s 10 weight classes. Moroz wasn’t signed to the organization when Calderwood made her debut, so the Ukrainian fighter wasn’t on her radar when thinking about her next bout.

Calderwood is aware the 23-year-old hardly represents an easy victory, though. Moroz may be less experienced, but Calderwood said there’s plenty to worry about.

“Even though she’s not highly ranked, she’s still dangerous,” Calderwood said. “MMA is an unpredictable sport, but I’m not underestimating her even though she’s ranked lower than me and hasn’t had as many fights. She’s still a danger to me.”

“There are a couple of challenges. She’s a little bit taller than anyone I’ve fought. She’s undefeated and has four wins by submission. At the end of the day, she’s a hungry fighter just like me. We’re both undefeated, so we’re going to both go in there and fight to keep our perfect records.”

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

If victorious, Calderwood said her dream scenario would be to challenge Jedrzejczyk for the women’s strawweight title at the July 18 event in her hometown of Glasgow in Scotland.

While Calderwood said she’d accept a title shot regardless of who held the belt, she was pleased to see Jedrzejczyk take the scrap from inaugural divisional champion Carla Esparza at UFC 185 in March.

Jedrzejczyk stopped Esparza with strikes in the second round of one of the more lopsided championship bouts in recent memory. Calderwood wasn’t surprised by the outcome, because after spending multiple weeks with Esparza on “The Ultimate Fighter 20,” she knew “The Cookie Monster” wasn’t complete enough to hold the belt for long.

“I really wanted Joanna to win, especially after spending some time with Carla in the house,” Calderwood said. “Looking at the future and who I want to fight, I want to fight a champion that’s well rounded. I don’t want to just fight a wrestler. That fight just exposed her to being a wrestler. She couldn’t take her down and couldn’t go with a Plan B. I don’t think a champion should be one-dimensional. I’m glad Joanna exposed her for what she was. If I’m looking at the future and I want to fight the champion, I want to fight someone that is well rounded.”

On top of her desire to face a complete champion, Calderwood likes the way she matches up with Jedrzejczyk. Eight of their combined 18 pro wins have come due to strikes, so conventional wisdom would point to a stand-up battle with the championship up for grabs.

Calderwood said she doesn’t know where her striking stacks up against Jedrzejczyk, but when analyzing their most recent performances, she thinks she’ has more diverse attacks.

“I never really think about (what strikes I throw) when I’m in there,” Calderwood said. “I just let my stuff go. Obviously it’s better to get a KO or a TKO, but at the end of the day (in my last fight) I got three five-minute rounds of showing technique. It wasn’t all just boxing. It was mixing things up. I think it’s important to go in there and show you can land a lot.

“I never really look at myself and think I’m good at something. I always think there’s room for improvement. As for (Jedrzejczyk’s) striking, I thought she had really good boxing. Her all around striking, we didn’t really see much of her kicks and stuff. Her elbows are good. It just depends on the fight. She could have another fight where she throws low kicks and stuff. But from that fight, I could see she has very good hands and elbows.”

Calderwood knows the idea of challenging for the belt is currently no more than a dream. Her immediate reality is Moroz, a fighter who could potentially steal all of Calderwood’s momentum and spark her own title run. That’s why “JoJo” said it’s so important to focus on the task at hand, because without a victory at UFC Fight Night 64, a title shot is a long way off.

“It would be perfect if the first time they come to Scotland and it would be a title fight for me,” Calderwood said. “It would be even more special. But it’s not my job to think about that. I’m just here to fight and the UFC makes those kinds of decisions. I just need to do my job and fight whoever they say. That’s what I’m going to do.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 64, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.