Joanna Jędrzejczyk
Five straight IFMA world titles, then UFC gold
- Born
- August 18, 1987, Olsztyn, Poland
- Nationality
Poland- Height
- 168 cm (5′6″)
- Reach
- 166 cm (5′5″)
- Style
- High-volume Muay Thai striker
- Weight
- Super Bantamweight, Featherweight, 57 kg (IFMA), Strawweight (MMA), Flyweight (MMA)
- Active
- c. 2004–2022
- Status
- Retired · age 39
The record
Professional Muay Thai and kickboxing record per Wikipedia; amateur record 37-3, including five IFMA world titles. MMA 16-5 (UFC.com, Sherdog).
The story
oanna Jędrzejczyk, from Olsztyn in Poland, took up Muay Thai at 16 for fitness and spent the next decade becoming one of the world's best amateur fighters. After losing the 2008 IFMA world final to Valentina Shevchenko, she won IFMA world gold five years running from 2009 to 2013, added four IFMA European titles and went 27-3 as a professional, winning WKN and WMC belts. She moved to MMA in 2012 and carried that striking volume into the UFC, mixing head and body punches with knees, elbows and leg kicks. She won the strawweight title in 2015, defended it five times and became the first Polish-born UFC champion. She retired in 2022 and entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2024, and her 2020 split-decision loss to Zhang Weili was inducted in 2026.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- IFMA World Muaythai Championships gold, −57 kg (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
- IFMA World Muaythai Championships silver, −57 kg (2008)
- IFMA European champion (four times)
- WKN world champion and WMC European champion (professional)
- UFC women's strawweight champion (2015–2017, 5 defenses)
- UFC Hall of Fame, Modern Wing (2024)
- UFC Hall of Fame, Fight Wing (2026, vs Zhang Weili at UFC 248)
- First Polish-born UFC champion
Defining fights
- 2008LOSSvs Valentina Shevchenko (IFMA World Championships final, −57 kg)
- 2015WINvs Carla Esparza (KO 2, punches, won UFC strawweight title)
- 2015WINvs Jessica Penne (TKO 3, punches and knee, title defense)
- 2016WINvs Cláudia Gadelha (unanimous decision, title defense)
- 2020LOSSvs Zhang Weili (split decision, UFC 248, inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame)
Take her volume into any ruleset: switch your punches between head and body, add knees and elbows at close range, and sprawl hard when an opponent shoots so the fight stays on the feet.
c. 1993–2024
2016–now
