Jessica Penne learned what she was made of in loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk

In her last trip to the UFC’s famed octagon, Jessica Penne suffered a brutal, blood-soaked TKO loss at the hands of strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC Fight Night 69.

Penne (12-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was admirable in defeat, never backing down despite absorbing loads of punishment from Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC). A $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus may have softened the blow a bit, but Penne said that the biggest thing she got from the event was learning about her own toughness.

“It’s a hard fight, but I think it’s really important for people to have fights like that to know what they’re made of and let them know that, no matter what happens, you’ll stand up in the face of adversity and you won’t crumble,” Penne told MMAjunkie while in attendance this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 78 in Mexico. “I think that’s a really important lesson I took away from it.”

Penne’s face was a bloody mess by the end of the bout, leading many to be concerned about her well-being both during and after the bout.

There were no serious injuries, however, according to Penne.

“It was just cosmetic damage,” she said. “I had bruising and swelling and my nose was broken, but my nose breaks kind of every fight. It’s hard to fight when you’re not able to breathe and get that recovery.”

As an experienced competitor who entered the Jedrzejczyk bout having won five of her previous six bouts, Penne isn’t ready to give up on trying to get back to a title fight.

However, she has no plans to train for Jedrzejczyk – or any one opponent; her focus is self-improvement.

“I think it’s really important that I just keep evolving for myself and not for any other opponent,” Penne said. “I just want to be the best me that I can be. I’m working on every aspect of my game.”

Check out the full video above.

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