Karolina Kowalkiewicz thanks former rival Joanna Jedrzejczyk following UFC Vegas 56 win over Felice Herrig
Karolina Kowalkiewicz is finally back in the win column and she has expressed gratitude to her former rival.
Kowalkiewicz entered UFC Vegas 56 on a five-fight skid. It had been a steep fall for the former UFC Strawweight Title challenger. Her last victory going into Saturday night was back in 2018 and it was against Felice Herrig.
She met Herrig again, only this time, she was being prepared by American Top Team. Kowalkiewicz earned the second-round submission over Herrig, who announced her retirement after the fight.
During her post-fight media scrum, Karolina Kowalkiewicz discussed her decision to make ATT her new MMA home (h/t MMAJunkie.com).
“Before this fight, I changed everything,” Kowalkiewicz said. “I knew this was my last chance to do something. I left my family, my dogs in Poland. I came to ATT in Florida. I spent two months alone without my friends, my family, my husband, my dogs. I trained with Coach Parrumpa and with Coach Anderson. I trusted them and now I won my fight.”
Kowalkiewicz also gave a big shoutout to Jedrzejczyk for helping put her fight camp together.
“It was a hard decision, but I knew it would be good for me,” Kowalkiewicz said. “… Joanna helped me to organize this whole fight camp. J.J., thank you very much. I am here because of you. This winning is teamwork.”
The emotional win was much-needed for Kowalkiewicz, who could’ve possibly been facing a UFC release had she fallen short against Herrig this past weekend.
It’ll be interesting to see if this is the spark that will begin a career resurgence for Kowalkiewicz, or if this was one last Hail Mary. Either way, she can at least breathe a bit easier today.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk Karolina Kowalkiewicz UFC
