Whoever takes that 0 on Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s record is going to have to work bloody hard to get it.
The reigning UFC strawweight champion showed no signs of slowing down as she claimed a unanimous decision and bragging rights by outworking her fellow countrywoman Karolina Kowalkiewicz in the first of three title fights that closed out UFC 205 on Saturday night.
Someone’s undefeated record was going to expire in Madison Square Garden but the dominant champ was adamant that it was not going to be her when she crossed paths with the woman who she had already beat by submission on the amateur circuit.
Jedrzejczyk was the more precise in the early stages as she countered each and every Kowalkiewicz attack with stunning striking accuracy.
The challenger tested the waters by attempting to drag the bout into the wrestling realm, where Kowalkiewicz was thought to have an edge, but Jedrzejczyk was able to resist.
Kowalkiewicz picked up a sense of urgency while sat on the stool between the first and second but storming forward at Jedrzejczyk is not what one would call a wise strategy as the champion was like a woodchipper during every entry.
The first and essentially only sight of blood, plenty of which was expected, came when Jedrzejczyk’s nose was the point of impact during a break from one of many clinches in the second stanza.
Kowalkiewicz seemed to want to turn the fight into a dogfight at the midway point but, unfortunately for her, that’s just the kind of scrap in which Jedrzejczyk flourishes.
All credit to Kowalkiewicz for continuing to come forward but in every exchange she found herself outclassed and a series of thudding elbows rattled her.
The championship rounds required championship mettle from Jedrzejczyk when Kowalkiewicz saw an opening and grasped it with one arcing right hand that crunched into her opponent’s nose.
"We got ourselves a fight" – @KarolinaMMA tagged the champ! Can she cause a huge upset? #UFC205#UFCNYC https://t.co/jAvjNCNZPj
— eir Sport (@eirSport) November 13, 2016
Some chinks began to show themselves in Jedrzejczyk’s previously impenetrable armour but the work had been put in in the early stages for the champion.
To look in her eyes, you’d never have guessed that Kowalkiewicz was hurt but her purpling leg told a different story.
Both fighters displayed significant swelling over their right eyes in the home strait but Jedrzejczyk was not about to allow her belt to be ripped from her slight but scary shoulders.
She claimed a unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) and proved once again why she’s known as Joanna Champion.
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