Claudia Gadelha Wants Another Crack at Joanna Jedrzejczyk (UFC 193 Video)

UFC 193 will take place in Melbourne, Australia.

But before either fighter had made their debut, there were women plugging away in dingy sports halls, fighting for next to no money just for the love of the sport and to make ends (barely) meet. Plus, we haven’t seen either woman since and there is no telling how they’ll come back from those championship setbacks.

“I wish it could have happened when I was younger, so I had more years to enjoy it”, Letourneau told The Province prior to departing for Australia.

The Polish-born champion went head-to-head for a pre-fight staredown with Letourneau on Friday, and she insists she could sense the fear in her opponent. I’m looking for my fight with Joanna.

UFC president Dana White raves about Jedrzejczyk, as does Rousey. Lombard will be watching the fight from the stands.

Still the 32-year-old Letourneau says her preparations have been ideal and that she feels no more pressure than any other fight.

“Does she think I am scared of being hurt?” “She’s got a huge following and the way she interacts with her fans is really smart”.

“She needs to be given time the same way that Ronda was given time but, in terms of skill, Joanna’s right up there”.

Her striking does not discriminate either.

“Invicta was around before Ronda and Cage Warriors was putting women’s fights on before Ronda”.

“I’ve been in this sport for quite a while”.

And then Jedrzejczyk hit her stride. “The medal was the big selling point when she started”. UFC lightweight contender Gilbert Melendez was suspended by the UFC following a failed drug test at UFC 188 in June. We’re enriching the history. Of course, that enhanced exposure is due primarily to the rise of Rousey, who is arguably the UFC’s biggest star. “Shannon Knapp and Invicta have done so much and the UFC essentially took the whole 115 lb division from that promotion”.

Before every event featuring a title fight (or multiple title fights), UFC Title View will break down the championship match-up, examine the next group of contenders and identify a fighter or two with the potential to climb the ranks and become a contender in the next year or two. She doesn’t have the skills to beat Ronda.

“After going through all of that to now makes me happy”.

“I could see in her eyes that she was scared”. Nothing is easy in life, but keep going and you will get there.

“These years have been so, so frustrating for me because I knew deep inside that I was a great fighter”, added the 8-3 challenger, who began her professional career in March, 2007, and faced future UFC bantamweight standouts (and fellow Canadians) Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis in her second and third bouts, respectively.