The girl from Olsztyn that fulfilled her dreams, Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Joanna Jedrzejczyk is one of MMA’s all-time greats. As she prepares to try and get back into title contention, she looked back at how she got to where she is.

For every single little thing in this world, there is a starting point. And throughout a lifespan of whatever it may be, smaller variants of conditions that have their own beginnings within the overall picture will play out as well. When those cycles end, it just opens the door for a new commencement.

Tracing back along the roots of one’s origin can dust off some of the most important stories that led to where things grew to be. As a book gets its first word inked onto page one, there is always a vision the author has in mind for their portrayal and where the conclusion will be.

Professional athletes never possess that label to kick off their lives. The dream of doing something great and ambitious has to be worked for through trial and tribulation. For a young girl from Olsztyn, Poland, that was no different.

At 32-years of age, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has now been competing professionally for exactly half of her life. In doing so, she has gone onto becoming the greatest combat sports athlete that her country and division have ever seen.

Always holding herself to the highest possible standard, the former strawweight queen is preparing to fight this weekend after the longest layoff of her career, something she admits was very nice and needed. Her last time out coming in December 2018.

“Even before [the Valentina Shevchenko fight] I was like, ‘Oh, I need a break.'” Jedrzejczyk told FanSided. “Because 2018 I did three fights, I was pretty active when I was the champ and people see the break, but they haven’t seen my whole fighting career.

“Before I became a UFC fighter, I did almost a hundred fights in Muay Thai boxing and kickboxing, you know, and that’s the point. I’ve been doing this for 16 years, and I needed a break. And I wanted to reset my body physically and mentally. And I did that. I got to the point where I wanted to be and then now I just feel great.

“I feel strong, explosive, powerful,” she continued. “And I felt it was not like I was not feeling the fire anymore. The fire is definitely bigger, stronger, and I feel so motivated. And my goal is to get one more chance to fight for the strawweight belt. And after my victory on Saturday, I will go and take the chance.”

Continued: The girl from Olsztyn that fulfilled her dreams, Joanna Jedrzejczyk