Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk on mutual admiration ahead of UFC 193

It’s clear that Jedrzeczyk has what it takes to do extremely special things inside of the Octagon.

Jedrzejczyk has the same problem.

“I hate myself in the Octagon because I’m a different person”, she said.

So on this week’s episode of Heavy Hands, we’re talking about stylistic matchups, and trying to figure out just what, if anything, Holly Holm and Valerie Letourneau have to offer the queens of MMA. Of course, the UFC show featured no title fights and was up against tougher competition from a sporting perspective, as college football draws well in the US …

It’d be wrong to put too much weight in the stats, but Bellator’s Friday night show from St. Louis did bigger numbers than the UFC’s Saturday night show in Brazil. Jedrzejczyk joined the promotion last July, and since then she’s scored wins over Juliana de Lima Carneiro, Claudia Gadelha, Carla Esparza and most recently Jessica Penne. If she wins decisively against Létourneau, it’ll be her time to shine. So if someone wants to get in the way of that, it’s on, and she has no apologies. Letourneau enters UFC 193 as a massive underdog to Jedrzejczyk.

“There’s no doubt that I’ll do it, I know it’s not going to be easy but there’s no doubt I’m going to do it”, Letourneau said during the UFC 193 media conference call last week. Esparza was highly regarded as the best wrestler in the division, and many had her as the favorite going into the bout.

In the UFC’s newest division, the women’s strawweight (115-pounds) division, reigning champion Joanna Jedrzeczyk has already begun to rise to prominence. “She’s a striker, but she has really good control on the ground, and she’s tough and has got the KO power as well, so I must pay attention and be careful, but we’re gonna play my game”. So I think what happened was because they tried to bring her down to Ronda’s card and she said she was going to fight on that card even though she said before that she was not going to be ready.

“I kind of like that position, I gotta say”. “She wants to make me quiet, not aggressive”. This is where I want people to see the difference. That will likely be on display again in Melbourne, just as it was in her first title defense against Jessica Penne. My challenge for her is already on. I’m just going in there and I don’t care to get hurt.

Joanna Champion is now in her zone.

Jedrzejczyk is a confident fighter. Now Letourneau, who hasn’t come near to the realm of trash talk, is apparently in the same boat.

“Believe me, Valerie is afraid of me”, she said of her opponent.

She’s rarely lost since, and never in her current day job. She’s a champion and knows what to do. It’s important for her to not let stardom get to her head though.

“This year is going insane”, she said.

He was the 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix champion and has roughly 80 fights on his resume. Even if they don’t want to make that happen, I’ll make that happen.

It’s the factor a lot of shooting stars who burn out forget. If she can up her output and take more of a Michael Bisping, bury you with volume approach, she’ll continue to maintain a spot in the Top 5 for a long time. Jedrzejczyk hasn’t forgotten that.

Thomas Gerbasi is the editorial director of UFC.com, has covered the sport since 2000 and has authored the official UFC encyclopedia and UFC: A Visual History.