While Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade are primed to fight for the UFC 115-pound championship at UFC 211 on Saturday in Dallas, buzz surrounding the women’s side of the sport is largely focused on the upcoming inclusion of a 125-pound weight class.
UFC President Dana White recently confirmed that the next season of The Ultimate Fighter would feature the women’s 125-pound division and would lead to the crowing of a champion. With both Jedrzejczyk and Andrade currently fighting at flyweight, they were asked about the division during a UFC 211 media call.
When asked why she believes why the UFC has decided to bring in the 125-pound weight class, Jedrzejczyk cited the company’s history of bringing in female fighters when they had initially said they wouldn’t as precedent for such an addition.
“I think a few years ago, (White) said that there is not going to be female division in the UFC and here we go, we have four divisions,” said Jedrzejczyk. “And so it’s pretty amazing and people are all for watching female fighters. So it’s good, I think.”
As for the division debuting as part of a season of TUF, Jedrzejczyk replied, “I don’t know. It’s good. I’m more than happy.”
For Andrade, who has fought as heavy as 135 pounds, right now her focus is at 115 pounds, but like Jedrzejczyk, she feels the addition of more weight classes can only be beneficial for the UFC.
“I have adapted pretty well to my division, but it’s always good to see that UFC is opening up new divisions and I think a lot of the girls that have a harder time cutting weight are going to move up to that division,” said Andrade. “But it’s good to see that UFC still believes in the women and is still building.”
While both women are focused on strawweight and their fight on Saturday, Jedrzejczyk did leave the possibility open for becoming the first female fighter in UFC history to hold two titles.
“I want to be focused on my next fight with Jessica Andrade,” Jedrzejczyk said. “She’s a very tough opponent so I want to put on a good fight, a good show in Dallas. And if I’m going to be healthy, if I’m not going to get injured, I would like to fight very quick because I like to be busy. So I don’t know, maybe next year I will fight for the 125 belt.”
