VIDEO| Watch Joanna Jedrzejczyk carry the Olympic torch for Poland
Last month, we learned that former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk would be carrying the Olympic torch for her native Poland ahead of the winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“It’s a huge honor. MKOL (International Olympic Committee) decided that me, as a representative of mixed martial arts will carry the Olympic fire,” Jedrzejczyk announced (via MMANytt.com). “MMA is far away from being Olympic competition, so it’s huge merit for me to represent our country on so huge international area. I’m very happy with that.”
As the video at the top of this post shows, Jedrzejczyk has now carried the torch. From the looks of it, it was a pretty exciting experience for her.
Jedrzejczyk was not first UFC fighter to carry the torch, as Antonio Rogerio Nogueira carried it for his home country of Brazil in 2016. MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko has also carried the torch for his native Russia in the past, and even appeared in an awesome promo ahead of the winter Olympics in Sochi.
One of the most dominating female champions in MMA history, Joanna Jedrzejczyk lost the UFC strawweight title in her last fight, succumbing to a first-round punch dealt by Rose Namajunas. This loss, which was the first of her pro career, was preceded by decisive defeats of Jessica Andrade, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Claudia Gadelha, Valerie Letourneau, Jessica Penne and Carla Esparza, which won her the belt. She’s now 14-1 overall, and 8-1 in the UFC.
Who do you want to see the torchbearer Joanna Jedrzejczyk fight next?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/8/2018.
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk
