Claudia Gadelha
Claudia Gadelha will be ready for a title fight with strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the challenger today assured.
As MMAjunkie previously reported, UFC officials are “reviewing options for Joanna’s next defense” since Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is reportedly nursing an injury, which could open the door for Valerie Letourneau (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) to get the next shot at Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).
Jedrzejczyk is currently slated to defend her title at UFC 195, which takes place Jan. 2 and airs on pay-per-view from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event recently lost a planned headliner between women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Holly Holm after it was moved up to UFC 193 on Nov. 14. The UFC also wanted to put Jedrzejczyk on the card, possibly against Letourneau since Gadelha is injured, according to Yahoo! Sports. Letourneau, though, reportedly also wouldn’t be ready, according to the report.
However, Gadelha today tweeted she “will be ready when Joanna is ready,” presumedly at UFC 193 or UFC 195.
According to Gadelha, she’s simply recovering from a finger injury suffered in her recent win over former WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar (via Twitter):
Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha first fought at UFC on FOX 13 fight in late 2014. Jedrzejczyk won via controversial split decision, though according to MMADecisions.com, nearly every major media outlet scored the fight for Gadelha.
The 26-year-old Brazilian rebounded from the loss with her dominant performance against Aguilar. UFC officials promised the winner would receive a title shot.
After the narrow Gadelha win, Jedrzejczyk went on to win the title from Carla Esparza and then defended it with a dominant performance against Jessica Penne. Both of the victories came via TKO, and the 28-year-old Polish fighter has garnered a strong fan following during her short title reign.
For more on UFC 193 and UFC 195, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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