It’s official, strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will fight Valerie Letourneau after all in the co-main event of UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia on November 15th.
Jedrzejczyk had originally been placed in the co-main event of UFC 195 in a rematch with Claudia Gadelha, but when the headline attraction of that event, another female title fight between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm, switched to UFC 193, the promotion wanted Jedrzejczyk to follow suit.
That plan initially hit a snag as Gadelha wouldn’t be ready in time due to a hand injury, so they considered Letourneau instead, but initially she also said she wouldn’t be ready in time.
It’s not clear what’s happened since then, but for whatever reason Letourneau has now stepped up to the plate and so we’re left with a fascinating situation where two female fights are going to lead what the UFC hopes is going to be a record-breaking show with plans to break MMA’s attendance record with up to 70,000 fans packing into the Etihad stadium in Melbourne to watch the action live.
Jedrzejczyk is a rising star in the UFC with a perfect 10-0 MMA record to date, four of which came inside the Octagon including defeating inaugural champion Carla Esparza by TKO and then successfully defending her title against Jessica Penne, also by TKO.
Letourneau has so far put together a three-fight winning streak since joining the UFC, but hasn’t been competing against the same level of competition, so she’s only ranked 10th in the division at this moment in time.
As mentioned earlier, UFC 193 will be headlined by Rousey Vs Holm, while a rematch of the heavyweight classic between Antonio Silva and Mark Hunt joins Michael Bisping Vs Robert Whittaker on the main card.
