Best Polish UFC Fighters Of All Time

Across its history – and particularly in the modern era of the UFC, the Dana White-led organization has hosted some of the best talents to ever emerge from mainland Europe – including Poland, with two fighters from the country striking gold to boot.

From both strawweight female fighters all the way to heavyweight contenders, Poland can lay claim with it’s European counterpart as a stronghold for legitimate talent which has firmly found its way through the ranks of the UFC. Below, check out five of the best Polish UFC fighters of all time.

5. Best Polish UFC Fighters

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Arguably the greatest strawweight fighter to compete and the best Polish UFC fighter of all time, former undisputed division champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, may have retired from the sport unceremoniously last summer, however, the Polish striker is a shoo-in for a future Hall of Fame induction.

Fighting out of Olsztyn in her native, Poland, Jedrzejczyk – a former Cage Warriors gold holder to boot, managed to dispatch former two-time champion and inaugural gold holder, Carla Esparza back in 2015, minting herself as just the second undisputed strawweight champion in Octagon antiquity.

Furthermore, the Muay Thai striker and former flyweight title challenger holds the current record for most successful consecutive title defenses at the strawweight limit, landing victories over Jessica Penne, Valerie Letourneau, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Jessica Andrade during her time atop the strawweight ranks.

Bowing out of the sport back in June of last year following a rematch loss to two-time strawweight champion, Zhang Weili at UFC 275, Jedrzejczyk has been tipped to eventually land herself an induction into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame from her peers. 

2. Jan Blachowicz

Former undisputed light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz arrived in the UFC after previously achieving champion status under the Polish banner, KSW.

A former undisputed gold holder at the 205lbs limit, career veteran, Blachowicz landed a vacant title in a second round KO win over Dominick Reyes back in 2020, before successfully defending the title in a unanimous decision win over current middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya – handing the Octagon superstar his first promotional loss. Polish betting sites are sure to offer odds a potential rematch between the two – particularly after Adesanya’s title reclamation at UFC 287.

Blachowicz recently competed for a vacant light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282 back in December of last year, fighting to an official majority decision draw against the Russian contender.

3. Mateusz Gamrot

Also a former KSW champion prior to his UFC arrival, Mateusz Gamrot managed to land gold in both the lightweight and featherweight divisions prior to his 2020 debut inside the Octagon.

Suffering a close, hard-fought decision loss to Guram Kutateladze in his UFC bow, Gamrot, who has opened as a betting underdog in just one of his outings in the Octagon – in an eventual decision win over he highly-touted contender, Arman Tsarukyan. 

Recently rebounding to the winner’s enclosure in a short-notice triumph over Jalin Turner, Gamrot’s sole other Octagon defeat came against Beneil Dariush – following successes over Scott Holtzman, Diego Ferreira, and Jeremy Stephens. 

4. Marcin Tybura

Linked with a headlining return to the Octagon this summer at a UFC Fight Night London event against Tom Aspinall in July, Marcin Tybura – a former M-1 Global champion, will ride a two-fight winning streak in his next walk under the organization’s banner

Featuring at the UFC Apex facility back in February, Tybura, the current #10 ranked heayvweight contendr landed a decision win over Blagoy Ivanov, following a prior success against the highly-rated, Alexandr Romanov. 

During his Octagon tenure, Tybura has also landed victories against the likes of Serge Spivak, Stefan Struve, and former undisputed heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski to name a few. 

5. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

Another product of KSW, former flyweight champion, Karolina Kowalkiewicz made history back in November 2016 against compatriot, Jedrzejczyk at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, featuring in an all-Polish strawweight title fight.

Suffering her first professional loss against her compatriot, Kowalkiewicz had earned her sole UFC title outing with a title-eliminator win over future two-time titleholder, Rose Namajunas in a summer slot earlier that year.

Triumphantly returning to the winner’s enclosure in an emotional submission win over Felice Herrig back in June of last year, Kowalkiewicz snapped a five-fight losing skid, and postponed her hiatus from mixed martial arts competition to boot.

In November at the same venue as her title challenge against fellow Polish striker, Jedrzejczyk, Kowalkiewicz managed to land a judging win over Silvana Gomez Juarez – embarking on a two-fight winning run for the first time since challenging for undisputed strawweight gold.

Honorable Mentions

• Krzysztof Jotko – holds notable UFC wins over the likes of Scott Askham, Thales Leites, Marc-Andre Barriault, Eryk Anders, and Gerald Meerschaert.
• Michal Oleksiejczuk – holds notable UFC wins over the likes of Gian Villante, Modestas Bukauskas, Shamil Gamzatov, and Sam Alvey.
• Piotr Hallmann – holds UFC wins over both Francisco Trinaldo, and Yves Edwards.