Karolina Kowalkiewicz ready for Jessica Andrade after 'f*cking awesome' UFC-Gdansk win

GDANSK, Poland – UFC women’s strawweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz was overcome with emotion after her dominant win against Jodie Esquibel at UFC Fight Night 118.

Fighting in her home country, Kowalkiewicz (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) couldn’t contain her tears. After a unanimous decision over Esquibel (6-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC), she couldn’t contain her language.

“It was (expletive) awesome,” she told reporters in English backstage at Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, which hosted the UFC Fight Pass-streamed event.

Although some fighters freeze with the pressure to perform in front of a hometown crowd, Kowalkiewicz said it energized her. But in any event, she doesn’t get rattled like that.

“I never feel pressure before the fight, because I love what I do,” she said via translator. “I feel pressure when I’m on a diet, and I can’t eat a cookie.”

Now, she’ll get on to the next item of business in her career. Kowalkiewicz is targeting a fight with fellow one-time title challenger Jessica Andrade (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC), who took aim at her prior to Saturday’s event.

“Jessica Andrade said I declined a fight, but that never happened,” Kowalkiewicz said. “I was never offered a fight with Jessica. So let’s just do it now.”

Andrade is a perfect bridge opponent if Kowalkiewicz is trying to get back into the title picture. Just this past month, Andrade put a beatdown on fellow Brazilian countrywoman Claudia Gadelha, who has twice fallen to her rival, champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Gadelha also submitted Kowalkiewicz in her previous outing, but Kowalkiewicz isn’t in to MMA match. Her goal is more short-term – to silence a critic.

“I don’t want to look that far into the future,” Kowalkiewicz said. “So far, I would like to enjoy training and living, and it would be nice if my next opponent is Jessica. Now, I need three days for vacation. After that I want to fight Jessica Andrade.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 118, check out the UFC Events section of the site.