Joanna Jedrzejczyk: Weili Zhang Or Myself Should Fight For Title Next Over Carla Esparza

Joanna Jedrzejczyk believes only herself or Weili Zhang should face Rose Namajunas next.

Carla Esparza is coming off a second-round TKO win over Yan Xioanan which put her on a five-fight winning streak. The former champion has since called for a fight with Namajunas as she believes she’s deserving of a title fight at this point.

However, nothing is guaranteed yet.

“I know he was definitely impressed with the fight,” Esparza said of UFC president Dana White. “But you want to hear those words ‘You got the fight, it’s your fight’. So until I hear those words, I’m not going to count my chickens before they hatch. But I’m hopeful.

“There are talks of it going to Weili too, but that fight doesn’t make sense. It’s not like she’s had 5-10 title defenses and she lost in a fluke. I don’t think she’s in a place to ask for an immediate rematch, but I think she’s a great fighter.”

Zhang, of course, lost her women’s strawweight title to Namajunas last month and many believe she will get an immediate rematch. Jedrzejczyk — who hasn’t competed since a close defeat to Zhang in their UFC 248 war last year — is another option.

And as far as Jedrzejczyk is concerned, Esparza isn’t as deserving as them.

“This is what she thinks,” she told The Schmo (via Middle Easy). “She has a winning streak but I think the next challenger should be JJ or Weili Zhang. This is what I agree to.

“Both fights are possible and are very interesting not only for me, but for the other girls — Rose or Weili Zhang — for the UFC and the fans so we’ll see what’s going to happen next.”

Whether she gets the fight herself remains to be seen. However, Jedrzejczyk is ready to compete as she has been training for a while now.

“I’ve been training really hard for the last months, even twice a day,” she added. “… I manage my daily schedule, routine for training. … Of course, I feel this fire and I’m very motivated to fight very soon.”