In a bit of a surprise announcement (although there had been some rumours leading up to it), the UFC announced that strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk would be joining Ronda Rousey on UFC 193 scheduled for November 15th in Melbourne, Australia. The surprise wasn’t in the fact that the organization is attempting to tie their 115lb champion to Rousey in order to build her popularity though. The bit that caught everyone off guard was Jedrzejczyk’s next opponent. Rather than face Claudia Gadelha — whom many feel beat Jedrzejczyk in their December 2014 bout — the Polish champion will take on Valerie LeTourneau, who has won three straight (two at strawweight) since joining the UFC. To put it simply, this is terrible matchmaking by the UFC. Dana White attempted to hide behind the veil of Gadelha being injured as the reason for LeTourneau jumping her in the title picture, but the Brazilian herself said that she would be ready whenever Jedrzejczyk was. I understand the desire for the UFC to have Jedrzejczyk look impressive on her biggest stage (let’s not forget that she headlined a Fight Pass card in her last outing), but this fight simply isn’t competitive. LeTourneau is primarily a striker — although she has enough grappling ability to get and maintain top position against the likes of Jessica Rakoczy and Maryna Moroz — but is outmatched in every facet of that realm by Jedrzejczyk aside from reach. The champion is more technical, faster, hits harder, and fights at a higher pace. We’ve also seen Joanna shut down the grappling games of far superior grapplers than LeTourneau. What this means for a UFC 193 card that is supposed to break all-time attendance records is that it will be headlined by a pair of women’s bouts with favorites who are approximately -1500. Showcase fights have a time and a place (and it’s hard to fault the UFC for their booking of Rousey given her dominance), but when you’re trying to put on a massive show that should be the time to put your best foot forward, and that would most certainly be the rematch between Jedrezejczyk and Gadelha. The UFC also held their “Go Big” press conference yesterday, although it seems that somewhere along the way wires got crossed and “Go Big” was translated to “Conor.” The Irish faux-featherweight champion was full of his usual piss and vinegar, calling out everyone and everything in sight (including lightweights Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone), and almost getting into a brawl with featherweight champion Jose Aldo. I would claim this as notable news, but at this point with McGregor there’s really nothing notable about it. The Irishman has done an excellent job of making himself polarizing though. There are those who love every action of his, and those who can’t wait for someone to beat him, but either way, almost everyone is invested in McGregor in some manner.
