Background and career
Joanna Jędrzejczyk (Polish: [jɔˈanna jɛndˈʐɛjtʂɨk], born August 18, 1987) is a Polish former professional mixed martial artist, Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. Jędrzejczyk competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she holds several records and is a former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion, including most successful strawweight title defenses (5), most consecutive wins at strawweight (8), and is the first Polish champion and first female European champion. She has been called the greatest female strawweight mixed martial artist of all time, including by Daniel Cormier, who credited her with putting the weight class "on the map". After discovering Muay Thai as a teenager, Jędrzejczyk went on to earn six medals (five gold) at the IFMA World Muaythai Championships and held several different championship titles with promotions such as World Kickboxing Network and World Muaythai Council. Switching to mixed martial arts (MMA) in May 2012, Jędrzejczyk went undefeated in her first nine fights and won the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship in March 2015 after defeating Carla Esparza at UFC 185. Over the next two years, she continued her undefeated streak with five successful title defenses against opponents such as Jessica Penne, Cláudia Gadelha, and Jéssica Andrade. Jędrzejczyk suffered the first loss of her MMA career when she lost the championship to Rose Namajunas in November 2017. After losing a rematch with Namajunas, Jędrzejczyk defeated Tecia Torres before briefly returning to flyweight in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the vacant UFC Women's Flyweight Championship against Valentina Shevchenko in December 2018. Following a strawweight win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Jędrzejczyk faced new strawweight champion Zhang Weili at UFC 248 in March 2020. Jędrzejczyk lost by split decision in what many pundits called the greatest fight in women's MMA history. Following a two-year layoff, Jędrzejczyk retired from mixed martial arts in June 2022 after losing a rematch against Zhang at UFC 275.
Jędrzejczyk discovered Muay Thai when she was 16, while taking up fitness, which eventually led her to compete in national and European tournaments. Jędrzejczyk competed in Muay Thai and kickboxing for 10 years, winning over 60 matches. Her amateur Muay Thai accomplishments include six IFMA world medals (five gold, one silver) and four IFMA European championships with a record of 37 wins and 3 losses. During her professional career Jędrzejczyk won five world titles including the WKN World Championship, J Girls Championship, WBKF Championship, WKF European Championship, and the WMC Championship. Her professional record is 27–3.
Jędrzejczyk made her professional debut in mixed martial arts (MMA) on May 19, 2012, at SFT - MMA Fight Night Diva SPA against Sylwia Juskiewicz, winning via unanimous decision. On December 8, 2012, at MFC 5 she defeated Lily Kazak by submission via rear naked choke. On June 20, 2013, at Battle of Moscow 12 she defeated the then #1 Russian WMMA flyweight fighter Julia Berezikova via unanimous decision. By July 2013, Jędrzejczyk was the #7 women's flyweight fighter in the world by Fight Matrix. On June 7, 2014, at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 69 she defeated Rosi Sexton via knockout in the second round.
Jędrzejczyk officially signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in July 2014. She made her promotional debut, now fighting as a strawweight, on July 26, 2014, at UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. Brown against Juliana Lima. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Jędrzejczyk next faced undefeated strawweight top contender Cláudia Gadelha on December 13, 2014, at UFC on Fox 13. She won the fight via split decision. The judges' decision was met with much controversy as the majority of the MMA media scored the bout in favor of Gadelha.
Jędrzejczyk faced Carla Esparza for the UFC Strawweight Championship on March 14, 2015, at UFC 185. Jędrzejczyk won the one-sided bout via TKO in the second round, becoming the first UFC title-holder from Poland and first female European UFC champion. Subsequently, Jędrzejczyk won a Performance of the Night bonus.
Jędrzejczyk's first title defense was against Jessica Penne on June 20, 2015, at UFC Fight Night: Jędrzejczyk vs. Penne in Berlin, Germany. She successfully defended the title against Penne, defeating her in the third round via TKO following a flurry of punches and a knee against the cage. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night honors. Jędrzejczyk later underwent surgery to repair a fractured thumb incurred during the fight. In her second title defense, Jędrzejczyk faced Valérie Létourneau on November 15, 2015, in the co-main event at UFC 193. She won the fight by unanimous decision to retain her title. The 220 significant strikes landed by Jędrzejczyk were the most ever in a championship fight. 70 leg kicks were landed by Jędrzejczyk, the most in UFC history at the time. The previous record was 68, set by Carlos Condit against Nick Diaz at UFC 143. In early 2016, the UFC announced that Jędrzejczyk would be one of the coaches, opposite former opponent Cláudia Gadelha on The Ultimate Fighter 23. A rematch between the two took place on July 8, 2016, at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night for their performance. Jędrzejczyk successfully defended her title for the 4th consecutive time by defeating fellow Pole Karolina Kowalkiewicz by unanimous decision on November 12, 2016, at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, the first event the promotion had held in the historic arena. Jędrzejczyk faced Jéssica Andrade on May 13, 2017, at UFC 211. She won the fight via unanimous decision, and successfully defended her title for the fifth consecutive time. Jędrzejczyk landed the most significant strikes in UFC championship history (225), had the highest significant strike differential in UFC championship history (142), and broke her previous record for most leg kicks thrown in a single fight (75). For her sixth title defense, Jędrzejczyk faced Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 4, 2017. In a huge upset, she lost the bout via KO (punches) in the first round, marking her first professional loss in mixed martial arts competition.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
