Injured Gadelha almost lost her spot in fight with Jedrzejczyk at UFC 195

Claudia Gadelha has been itching for redemption since her sole loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC on FOX in December 2014. The victory over Gadelha propelled Jedrzejczyk into a championship bout where she has since become one of the most popular champions the octagon has to offer. Gadelha was slated to be next in line to challenge Jedrzejczyk for her strawweight championship, but it looks like Valerie Letourneau could be in the mix for gold as well.

Robbie Lawler recently feel victim to an injury that forced him out of his title defense with Carlos Condit at “UFC 193”. While the Australia card was looking for a new main event, UFC President Dana White was looking at Jedrzejczyk’s next title defense to be the new headliner.

Gadelha suffered a hand injury in her fight with former WSOF Strawweight Champion Jessica Aguilar, but still walked out with the victory. White mentioned after the card that Gadelha earned another shot at the champion and it was reported earlier in August that a bout between Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha was set for UFC 195.

White admitted to Yahoo’s Kevin Iole, however, that he originally planned on moving “Joanna Champion’s” next title defense to UFC 193 against Letourneau. Gadelha had previously mentioned she would be ready to fight again in January which means she would not have been able to participate at UFC 193 in November. Lucky for her, UFC found a suitable replacement for Lawler and Condit in the form of Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm.

Gadelha recently spoke with MMA Fighting about potentially being overlooked and didn’t sound too pleased about it:

“Joanna said she would be ready to fight me by December or January because of her injury, but she’s ready to fight someone else earlier. I said I’d be ready by December or January because she was also injured, but if Dana White wants to give her another fight, do it. Put another one in front of me and I will run through her. This fight will happen, but this is really disrespectful. The belt is mine. I beat her once, and I will beat her again. They are trying to take this away from me for a while, but my time will come.”

Who do you think deserves the shot? Share your pick in the comment section below!

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