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After Ronda Rousey, Dana White Confesses Deep Friendship With UFC Hall of Fame Inductee Joanna Jędrzejczyk – “She Went Through Hard Times”

Published 03/10/2024, 3:58 AM EDT

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Joanna Jędrzejczyk will be inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame this year, becoming only the second female there alongside Ronda Rousey. ‘The Pole’ became the women’s strawweight champion in 2015 after defeating Carla Esparaza, the inaugural women’s 115-pound champion.

This was followed by a dominant title run, which saw her make five consecutive title defenses in a largely dominant fashion until she was defeated by Rose Namajunas in 2017. She retired after losing her rematch to Zhang Weili at their UFC 275 bout in 2020.

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In the UFC 299 post-fight press conference, Dana White was asked about Jędrzejczyk’s induction into the Hall of Fame, and the UFC boss had nothing but praise for her. “Awesome human. Yeah, she’s an awesome human, an incredible fighter and I couldn’t be more happy for her,” he said.

“Pretty recently within the last five or something years, she went through hard times, some ups and downs. She seems like she’s in a really good place, seems like she’s really happy, and obviously, happy enough professionally to call it quits. It could not have happened to a better human being. Absolutely love her and wish her nothing but the best,” he added. Jędrzejczyk was present at the arena when commentator Jon Anik announced she would be indicted into the HoF and became quite emotional after a video package honoring her was played. And the Pole will join at least two other legends in this year’s UFC Hall of Fame class.

Jedrzejczyk to join Wanderlei Silva and Frankie Edgar in HoF 2024 class

Joanna Jedrzejczyk will officially be inducted into the Modern Wing of the UFC’s Hall of Fame which is usually held during the International Fight Week, which is in June this year. She will join former Pride FC middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva and former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the 2024 Class of the UFC Hall of Fame.

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Silva, a former Pride FC middleweight champion known for his violent fighting style and being one of the most dominant mixed martial artists in the world during his Pride and UFC stint, was a global MMA icon who, at his prime, was on par with the likes of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Fedor Emilianenko in terms of popularity and dominance.

The third UFC Hall of Fame inductee for 2024 is former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, whom Dana White has called “one of the greatest athletes in UFC history”. In his decade-and-a-half stint at the UFC, he became the lightweight champion by defeating BJ Penn before going on to defend his title in two epic clashes with Gray Maynard.

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What do you think about White’s comments on Joanna Jędrzejczyk?

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Written by:

Kanishk Thakur

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Kanishk Thakur is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports with nearly 5 years of professional writing experience. Kanishk has expertly covered the heated rivalries of the fight game, and delivered meticulous reports of payouts of PPV events and Fight Nights, in addition to covering the personal side of fighters outside the sport. He is also an ardent Joe Rogan fan, who hopes to draw in more fans to the sport as Rogan did for him.
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Edited by:

Joyita Das