UFC 217: Career Rundown - Joanna Jedrzejczyk

While it is occasionally seen in boxing, going unbeaten in MMA is practically impossible, thanks largely to the wide variety of styles that can be utilised to win. However, every once in a while, a fighter comes along that displays an aura of invincibility. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is such a fighter.

Born in Olsztyn, Poland, Joanna was comparatively late to the martial arts, picking up Muay Thai kickboxing during her teenage years. However, it became pretty evident that she had natural ability. By the time she was 23, she was already a double world champion in Muay Thai, and a world champion in kickboxing. She would add three further world Muay Thai titles by the time she took up MMA professionally, underlining her striking pedigree.

It's worth putting Joanna's rise in the context of the rapidly growing women's mixed martial arts divisions in the UFC. Thanks largely to the popularity and appeal of Ronda Rousey at bantamweight, Dana White's frosty approach to womens' MMA had thawed, with a series of The Ultimate Fighter designed to create a new strawweight division and name a new champion. While the series came too soon for the Polish striker, it would not take her too long to make her mark.

Her breakthrough moment would come against perhaps her greatest rival to date - the Brazilian Claudia Gadelha. Having come through her UFC debut relatively unscathed against Juliana Lima, the Pole was pushed to the limit in her bout against Gadelha, emerging a narrow victor by split decision. While she has since defended her belt successfully against the Brazilian in a far more dominant performance, this was certainly the fight that gave her the greatest difficulty.

After a challenge, the greatest fighters go back to the drawing board to hone their skills, and Jedrzejczyk certainly did that. Undoubtedly one of the most decorated strikers in the UFC, she has continued to work to ensure that she is applying her experience in Muay Thai and kickboxing to better her MMA striking. And this improvement has been continuous and stark.

Just look at her dissection of Jessica Penne in her first defence. For the length of the fight, she landed crisp, clean combinations, playing with her opponent until she became a bloody mess and had no defence to her striking. However, it is perhaps her striking defence that has become most noticeable in recent bouts. Other than a brief knockdown in her second fight against Gadelha, and a more significant period of pressure against Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her last fight at MSG, her UFC career has been a masterclass of defensive fighting.

Nothing says this more than her most recent title defence against Jessica Andrade at UFC 211. The ex-bantamweight was identified as a vicious power striker with a significant advantage in the strength and grappling stakes. However, when it came to fight night, the champion simply shut that down. Working behind her jab effectively, she outlanded the Brazilian by 230 to 94 - the highest significant strike differential in UFC title history. It's probably worth mentioning that she also holds the rest of the top four, as well as the top two in most significant strikes landed!

Such has been her success in recent years, she enters into UFC 217 looking to tie Ronda Rousey's record of six successive title defences in womens' MMA. As I mentioned earlier, there is that veil of invincibility around Joanna Champion at present, but as we have seen with Rousey, that can be taken away in an instant. In fact, you could argue it's simply a case of when and not if. Look at the greatest martial artists of all time - GSP, Hughes, Liddell, Ortiz, Couture, Silva - all of which looked invincible at some point, but all came a cropper at some point.

As the women's strawweight division continues to gain talent and awareness, the quality of challenger will increase accordingly - but is November 4 the day that unbeaten record goes? Let me know your thoughts on this, and the success of Joanna Champion either in the comments or @TheWeighInMMA on Twitter.

MMA Awards 2017: The Case For... Gegard Mousasi

The rise of MMA outside of the US has led to a cultural explosion of the sport. From Brazilian jiu-jitzu to Japanese karate, there are now a wide range of different but equally valid fighting styles, created from many different jurisdictions.

With the rise of international fighting styles comes the strength in depth of fighting talent outside the US. In a previous post, I already covered one contender for the 'International Fighter of the Year' award at length, putting my case forward for Michael Bisping in the headline category. As such, it's only fair that this post covers someone else, as there have been many accomplishments across the European MMA scene this year.

Fitting firmly into this category is Dutch kick boxer Gegard Mousasi. Arguably one of the most under-rated fighters currently plying his trade in the UFC, Mousasi is also one of the most experienced and active. To put it into perspective, his upcoming fight with Chris Weidman, slated for UFC 210, will be the Dutchman's 50th professional bout, adding to a further 21 fights in kickboxing and boxing. Having been fighting since 2003, that is an average of nearly four fights every year, with an almost unheard of seven fights in 2005 alone.

While it is true that the majority of his fights have come outside of MMA's leading promotion, it remains that Mousasi has rarely been considered as a true title contender, a fact that is baffling when you look at his record. With 41 wins, six losses and two draws, the Dutchman has been on some incredible runs during his career and fought some of the biggest names. Indeed, between November 2006 and December 2009, Mousasi went on a 15-fight win streak, including victories over the likes of Hector Lombard, Evangelista Santos, Melvin Manhoef, Jacare Souza and even heavyweight Mark Hunt. He was also only the second man in history to stop Dan Henderson by strikes, and while three of his six defeats have come during his time in the UFC, there have been many more undeserving recipients of title shots in that time.

2016 was no different in terms of the work rate of Mousasi, recording an unbeaten 4-0 record over the 12 month period. In particular, the Dutchman enjoyed back to back TKO victories over top 10 opponents in the space of six weeks at the back end of the year, first despatching MMA legend Vitor Belfort at UFC 204 in Manchester, before running through Uriah Hall in Belfast to avenge his previous defeat.

When compared to the other fighters on the list, his is comfortably the most impressive record. Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Khabib Nurmagomedov both enjoyed 2-0 records, while Michael Bisping won a title and beat two MMA legends on his way to a 3-0 year. Finally, while Conor McGregor made history with his second round KO of lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez to become the UFC's first double-weight world champion, the fact remains that he was defeated by Nate Diaz at UFC 196, casting a small cloud over the rest of his accomplishments last year.

One criticism that could perhaps be levelled against Mousasi in the past is that his successes in the UFC have been punctuated by defeats, and that he excelled in the 'minor leagues' of Strikeforce and Dream, but has yet to establish himself at the elite level. This year comprehensively rebuffs that statement. While you can't even say it has been Mousasi's most successful year, it is certainly the one where he broke into the upper echelons of the UFC, and the Weidman fight could well be a potential title eliminator.

Mousasi's main problem is that he has been unfortunate enough to find himself in arguably the most stacked division in MMA right now, with any one of the top 10 fighters capable of beating any other. As a result, his quality has yet to fully shine through, and while his under-the-radar demeanour does not garner him the headlines of the likes of McGregor, it seems to be working in the Octagon. 2017 could be the year where he adds the UFC belt to his already bursting cabinet of trophies, and he will be watching the result of the Michael Bisping/Yoel Romero bout with interest.