UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jędrzejczyk doesn't mind admitting she has a rooting interest in the UFC 190 No. 1 contender's fight between Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Aguliar.
The champ is pulling for the Brazilian to win in her home country.
"I think Claudia is going to win," Jędrzejczyk said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "I would like that."
It's not that the fighter known as Joanna Champion is a huge fan of Gadelha, mind you. Just the opposite.
Jędrzejczyk tangled with Gadelha at last December's UFC on FOX event in Phoenix. In a back-and-forth, fiesty brawl, Jędrzejczyk got a split-decision win which was highly debated. That was Gadelha's first pro loss and set Jędrzejczyk up for her title fight with Esparza in which she won the belt.
The champ wants another piece of Gadelha because she believes that this time out, she'll win going away and settle the matter of who is the better fighter, once and for all.
"I'm a different fighter right now," she said. "Claudia Gadelha, she takes a few steps back. She hasn't fought for a long time. I'm different now, I'm going to win easy this time. I"m better. Now I know I have KO power, my wrestling ia different, getting better and better. I really can play on the ground even better than before."
The first bout was punctuated by a postfight skirmish; Jędrzejczyk swung at Gadelha just as the horn sounded, so Gadelha responded by connecting with a shot well after the fight's end. But the champ claims this is not a motivation for wanting the rematch.
"I don't care about it," she said. "I forgot about it. ... she said sorry."