Joanna Jedrzejczyk explains why she believes Karolina Kowalkiewicz has found a ‘second wind’ in career

MMA News
Joanna Jedrzejczyk explains why she believes Karolina Kowalkiewicz has found a ‘second wind’ in career

SINGAPORE – There was a time when Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Karolina Kowalkiewicz had some bad blood, but now the two can be found training alongside each other at American Top Team.

The careers of the two Polish strawweights have been intertwined since their amateur days, when they fought in 2012 in their home country. Four years later, they met once again as pros at UFC 205, but this time Jedrzejczyk was the champion of the division looking for her fourth title defense. Jedrzejczyk won both meetings.

Despite their fighting history, the tension between the two is now gone. Kowalkiewicz made the decision to join her former foe at ATT in hopes of finding her footing after dropping five straight. The plan worked, as Kowalkiewicz picked up a much-needed win over Felice Herrig at UFC Fight Night 207. After the fight, she credited Jedrzejcyk for the victory.

“I’m very happy for Karolina that she made this decision,” Jedrzejczyk told MMA Junkie. “There was bad blood between us. We both made beautiful history for Poland, Europe, and the world of women’s MMA. …But there is no more bad blood. When there’s time to take care of the business, you have to take care of the business the best way you can do. Bad blood, aggression, violence – but after that, it’s all over, you know?

“She reached out to me last year in May to help her prepare for her fight before, and I told her about moving to ATT because of the people. Dan Lambert, who I’m very thankful to, coaches, girls who are training, sparring partners, but she was not ready and she lost that fight. Her last fight was her be or not to be, but she made this decision, she came down, she made changes. Changes are always difficult to make, but we need changes in our lives, we all do. But when the time flies, we see the changes were good for us.”

Jedrzejczyk believes the decision to join her at ATT will help her career hit a new stride. In one camp with the Florida-based team, Kowalkiewicz returned to the win column and notched the first finish of her UFC tenure.

“I really believe she’s going to re-sign with the UFC and we’re going to see Karolina competing for longer,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I feel like she has got this second wind because I know how happy she is with her coaches at ATT, with teammates, with us in general. Extra wind, you know? Second life. That’s good for her.”

As for Jedrzejczyk, she is on the verge of facing fellow former champion Zhang Weili for the second time on the main card of UFC 275, a rematch of their 2020 Fight of the Year. Looking to return to the win column as Kowalkiewicz did, Jedrzejczyk expects to emerge victorious and reclaim her throne.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk explains why she believes Karolina Kowalkiewicz has found a ‘second wind’ in career