UFC 211: Stipe Miocic vs. Junior dos Santos II

Joanna Jedrzejczyk Recalls Training Sessions With Jessica Andrade

Joanna Jedrzejczyk Recalls Training Sessions With Jessica Andrade

UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk has faced Jessica Andrade before inside the walls of the gym.

May 5, 2017 by FloCombat Staff
Joanna Jedrzejczyk Recalls Training Sessions With Jessica Andrade
Joanna Jedrzejczyk has reigned supreme over the UFC women's strawweight division for the past two years.

The undefeated American Top Team product has battered and bloodied every opponent she's faced inside the cage during her run as queen, and notched four successful defenses of her 115-pound title. Jedrzejczyk has looked damn near unstoppable, and those performances have elevated the 29-year-old Poland native to star status under the UFC banner.

The undefeated champion has nearly knocked off all the certified contenders in the strawweight ranks, but there's a big challenge standing her path in Jessica Andrade at UFC 211 on May 13. The Brazilian carries solid power and has a versatile skill set--one Jedrzejczyk is more than familiar with as the two fighters used to be training partners.

Furthermore, at one point in time both Jedrzejczyk and Andrade worked with the same manager, and that's who Joanna Champion believes is putting out the trash-talk for Andrade. That said, Jedrzejczyk isn't paying any mind to the static and noise.

The reigning and defending champion recently recalled her time with Andrade in an interview with MMAFighting, and will be ready for whatever comes her way in Dallas.

“Jessica says a few things, but I know she cannot speak English very well, so probably it was Tiago, who used to be my manager and friend. The thing is, I don’t mind. It’s all about the fight. Like I said, we used to train together, spar together a little bit. But it’s all about this fight.”

“I know Jessica for a while. We’ve been kind of friends. Friends may be a bit too much — we were colleagues. Is that a good word? We used to train together sometimes, we used to do some crazy things when I was at the fights when she fought or when I fought. We used to have good times, many good times."

And what did Jedrzejczyk learn from the hours spent with Andrade inside the gym? Plenty.

“That I can submit her and I can knock her out,” she said. “But the fight is different. It was in the past. Jessica is a very dangerous opponent. She drops from 125. She’s very strong in the strawweight division.”