Dana White says Joanna Jędrzejczyk is a future UFC Hall-of-Famer "without a doubt", hails her for building women's MMA
UFC president Dana White has showered praise on Joanna Jędrzejczyk, hailing her as a pioneer in women’s MMA.
White was not in attendance for UFC 275 but made an appearance at the post-fight press conference for the UFC Austin event. During his time there, the UFC president commented on Jędrzejczyk announcing her retirement from the sport at UFC 275.
When asked by a reporter whether the Polish fighter would be in the UFC Hall of Fame in the future, White said:
"Without a doubt. One of the women who helped build women's MMA, especially in the UFC and always fun to watch, always came to fight. I love eevrything about Joanna and I'm glad that she fought and ended her career here with us," said Dana White.
Watch the full press conference below:
Jędrzejczyk's last fight was against Zhang Weili in a rematch of their UFC 248 barnburner. The night did not bode well for the 34-year-old as she was knocked out by a spinning backfist in the second round. Jędrzejczyk later took off her gloves and announced her retirement from MMA.
Joanna Jędrzejczyk had an illustrious career in the UFC
Joanna Jędrzejczyk will go down in history as one of the greatest female fighters to ever grace the UFC octagon. The 34-year-old reigned over the strawweight division for years and defeated several high-level opponents in the process.
Jędrzejczyk's journey in the UFC started in July 2014. The Pole took on Julianna Lima in her debut fight and defeated her via unanimous decision. In her next fight, she defeated Claudia Gadelha via split decision.
This earned her a shot at UFC gold against Carla Esparza at UFC 185. Jędrzejczyk made light work of 'Cookie Monster' and finished her via TKO in the second round to be crowned the new strawweight queen. The 34-year-old then defended the title five times against opponents like Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Jessica Andrade, and Gadelha.
Before her final fight at UFC 275, Jędrzejczyk and Weili put on one of the greatest MMA fights of all time at UFC 248. The contest was hailed by many as the best fight of the year in 2020.