Joanna Violence? Nah, Joanna Comedy!
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight title will be defended in the UFC 312 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event this weekend (Sat., Feb. 8, 2025), as two-time defending champion, Zhang Weili, takes on undefeated No. 1 contender, Tatiana Suarez, inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
But you cannot talk about the 115-pound division without mentioning former UFC strawweight queen, Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Jedrzejczyk has been retired for three years already and for the most part — aside from showing up in crowd shots at random UFC events — she has been out of the public eye as she enjoys her life.
Until Friday, when Jedrzejczyk made a surprise appearance at the UFC 312 weigh ins show.
Before getting her thoughts on the impending strawweight title fight between Weili and Suarez, UFC play-by-play man, Jon Anik, asked what Jedrzejczyk has been up to — and the answer was completely out of left field.
“I just finished my stand-up [comedy] tour,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I had 40 shows in Poland. I did 40 shows with the best stand-ups. It was a great experience, but no more. I was living like a rockstar. Compared to what I was living like as an athlete, it’s a totally different world. So, no more.”
When asked what was harder between stand-up comedy and fighting, she revealed it was telling jokes.
“I think stand-up is harder,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I was performing in front of 12,000 people, the biggest arenas in Poland. We had almost 240,000 people in total. It was incredible.”
So, yeah, one of the best female fighters of all time, who dominated MMA for years, can cross “comedian” off her bucket list.
Now, who knows how funny she is? And sadly, we may never find out (unless you speak Polish).
LIVE! Watch UFC 312 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
MIDDLEWEIGHT REMATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., Feb. 8, with a rematch between 185-pound kingpin, Dricus du Plessis, running it back against the man he lifted the belt off little more than one year ago, Sean Strickland, in the five-round main event. In UFC 312’s championship co-headliner from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, women’s Strawweight roost-ruler, Zhang Weili, will defend her belt against undefeated (and oft-injured) 115-pound contender, Tatiana Suarez. UFC 312 will also feature a hard-hitting Heavyweight battle between Justin Tafa vs. Talisson Teixeira, alongside a Light Heavyweight showdown with Jimmy Crute facing Rodolfo Bellato, and so much more! UFC 312’s start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 312 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts scheduled for 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 312: “Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 312 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.
