UFC 205's Karolina Kowalkiewicz plans to give champ Jedrzejczyk 'hardest fight of her life'

NEW YORK – No one has been able to figure out the puzzle that is UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. However, UFC 205 challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz insists she’s going to be the one to get it done.

Kowalkiewicz (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who challenges Jedrzejczyk (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) for the 115-pound belt in the one of the featured UFC 205 pay-per-view bouts following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass at Madison Square Garden in New York, believes she has the formula to dethrone the unbeaten champion.

“I know it will be the hardest fight of my life,” Kowalkiewicz said at today’s UFC 205 open workouts. “For her, it will be the hardest fight of her life. Two girls from Poland fighting on the biggest event in the world. It will be a great fight and I hope you will like it.

“You can expect a lot of punches, elbows, blows and that stuff. I don’t know (how I win), but I know one thing: At the end of the fight my hands will be up.”

Kowalkiewicz, No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA strawweight rankings, has crossed paths with No. 1-ranked Jedrzejczyk once before. They competed in an amateur bout in March 2012, with Jedrzejczyk defeating her fellowing Polish fighter by submission.

Neither athlete expects the second showdown to look the same, though, especially with the high-stakes nature of the contest. Kowalkiewicz might have less experience and less of a following than the current titleholder, but she said now is her time to claim the gold.

“Still I can’t believe that I am here,” Kowalkiewicz said. “I work for this my whole life and now I am here. …I am undefeated like Joanna. I am No. 2 in the UFC ranking and this is the best I can be because I am still very young. I’m 31, I want to have children so this is a good time.”

For more on UFC 205, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.