For a few months now, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has arguably been the best-kept secret in women’s MMA—maybe even the entire UFC.
She’ll probably stay that way a little while longer.
Jedrzejczyk’s co-main event matchup with Valerie Letourneau on Saturday at UFC 193 was expected to be a showcase for the 28-year-old strawweight champion.
She was as big a favorite over Letourneau as Ronda Rousey was over Holm, according to Odds Shark. The matchmaking strategy dictated that she fly through the 32-year-old French Canadian in a fashion so impressive it converted the horde of pay-per-view buyers who tuned in to see Rousey into Jedrzejczyk fans, too.
She didn’t really pull that off, but in the end, it didn’t matter. Nothing Jedrzejczyk could have done on this night would’ve been good enough. After Holm knocked Rousey cold via vicious second-round head kick, Jedrzejczyk could have ridden a rainbow unicorn into the Octagon, and nobody would have remembered it.
This night belonged squarely to Holm. She fought close to a perfect fight against Rousey in the evening’s main event and shocked much of the fighting world when she ended the UFC’s biggest star’s 135-pound title reign early in the second.
Meanwhile, Jedrzejczyk kind of underwhelmed.
Letourneau’s challenge proved stiffer than expected in the early going, when she took Jedrzejczyk down inside the first minute of the opening round. Even after Jedrzejczyk battled to her feet, Letourneau held her own in the initial striking exchanges and controlled much of the opening round with pressure against the fence.
Things fared only slightly better for Jedrzejczyk in the second, and suddenly her place atop the UFC’s 115-pound division—and as an Internet favorite of hardcore fans—started to feel a bit more precarious.
As the fight wore on, however, Jedrzejczyk’s speed and pace began to take the wind out of Letourneau’s sails. The tide slowly turned, and then in the championship rounds, Jedrzejczyk left her in the dust.
The champion's combinations were layered and crisp. She battered the challenger’s lead leg with low kicks, closed her right eye with punches and scored repeatedly with short elbows from the clinch as well as a couple of front kicks to the face.
When it was over, she’d won four of five rounds on two judges’ scorecards and authored a clean sweep on the third. Still, it wasn’t exactly the star-making performance many had hoped for.
“I said Valerie was going to be a tough opponent,” Jedrzejczyk told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage when it was over. “I always want to fight the best. I expected a very long fight—five rounds. Preparation has been great, and I’m happy with the victory.”
Blame the snoozer on any number of factors.
Perhaps it was the late hour, as UFC events have a tendency to drag on and on these days. UFC 193 featured 13 fights, and three of the five on PPV went the distance. By the time Jedrzejczyk spent 25 minutes gradually out-pointing a fighter she was supposed to dominate, there was a growing restlessness.
We just wanted to get Rousey and Holm out there to do their thing.
This was Rousey’s show, after all—at least, it was supposed to be until Holm crashed it. Since a planned welterweight title bout fell apart due to injury and the UFC slotted Rousey-Holm to replace it in Melbourne, Australia's 70,000-seat Etihad Stadium, the organization spent much of its time turning this event into the biggest, best version of the Ronda Rousey Experience yet.
Even though Jedrzejczyk was positioned as the co-headliner for the express purpose of getting a little Rousey-sized love, she’d largely gotten short shrift during the lead-up. When you base the thrust of your prefight promotion primarily around one fighter, it’s no surprise when people seem less interested in the rest.
Here's that thing I made showing how much time the UFC devoted to Ronda Rousey in the first Embedded episode. pic.twitter.com/HTHnArC9F6
— Suzanne Davis (@SoozieCuzie) November 12, 2015
It’s also possible that hardcore fans were premature in anointing Jedrzejczyk nearly unbeatable. She’s been UFC champion for only eight months, and though she looked great in recent performances against Carla Esparza and Jessica Penne, she walks away from UFC 193 seeming just a touch more mortal.
Her next fight may well turn out to be a rematch against Claudia Gadelha. When the two fought in December of last year, Jedrzejczyk emerged victorious, but only by razor-thin split decision. Afterward, Gadelha bounced back with an impressive win over highly regarded former WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar and is now nipping at the champion’s heels once again.
It’s possible she could turn out to be an even bigger problem for Jedrzejczyk the second time around.
In any case, on a night of showcase fights that didn’t work out as planned for anyone, Jedrzejczyk had little chance to steal the spotlight.
Maybe next time a rainbow unicorn is in order.
