UFC 248 free fight: Joanna Jedrzejczyk earns shot to reclaim strawweight title with win over Michelle Waterson

Joanna Jedrzejczyk proved once again she has no issues going five rounds.

Since losing to Rose Namajunas twice, the former UFC strawweight queen picked up wins over Tecia Torres and Michelle Waterson, two notable names in the 115-pound division, to earn another shot at gold.

Jedrzejczyk (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) returned to strawweight after a failed attempt to capture the flyweight title and took on Waterson in the UFC on ESPN+ 19 main event.

Jedrzejczyk, who’d already gone 25 minutes six times at that point, was able to display her cardio and pace in full form against Waterson over the course of five rounds.

She outstruck Waterson, landing more than 200 strikes in the fight, primarily using her kicking game. Jedrzejczyk proved to be too sharp for the former Invicta FC atomweight champ and positioned herself for another shot to reclaim the UFC strawweight title.

Jedrzejczyk returns to action Saturday in the UFC 248 co-main event when she challenges new strawweight champ Zhang Weili. UFC 248 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out Jedrzejczyk’s win over Waterson in the video above.