Gadelha: I Don’t Care About The Title, I Want Fight With Joanna
Top women’s strawweight contender Claudia Gadelha took on current champion Joanna Jedrzeczyk last December in a closely contested bout that ended in a semi-controversial split-decision victory for Jedrzeczyk.
The Polish striker would then go on to win the title and defend it last June. Gadelha was supposed to get her rematch with Jedrzeczyk at next week’s (November 14, 2015) UFC 193, but a thumb injury has held the Brazilian back.
“Joanna Champion” will now defend her title against Valerie Letourneau, but Gadelha still has her eyes set on the champion. That being said, Gadelha confirmed that she isn’t necessarily worried about the title, but rather focused simply on a rematch with Jedrzeczyk:
“I want to fight Joanna,” Gadelha told MMAjunkie. “Even if she loses the title, I don’t care about the title –I want to fight her. I think she will win the fight and the UFC said if she wins the fight and nothing happens to her, we will fight in February. I will fight her anywhere.”
As far as the champion’s next challenge goes, Gadelha feels as if Jedrzeczyk will be victorious rather easily due mainly to the amount of weight the Canadian challenger has to cut:
“I think Joanna will win because Valerie, she lose a lot of weight and she lose a lot of performance in that division,” Gadelha said. “So I think Joanna can win that fight pretty easy.”
It may be argued rather easily that “Claudinha” is the biggest threat to “Joanna Champion’s” throne, as many still feel as if the Brazilian got the job done the first time around. Gadelha feels this way as well, stating that she will make sure the rematch happens no matter what:
“My challenge for her is already on. She knows I want to fight her already anyways. I’ll make that happen anyways. Even if they don’t want to make that happen, I’ll make that happen. So if they want me to get inside the octagon and challenge her, I will.”
Since the fight last December, it must also be noted that Jedrzeczyk has looked like a different type of animal inside of the Octagon.
Could Gadelha offer up a challenge to the champion?
