RIO DE JANEIRO -- Jose Aldo is a fan of UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Following Jedrzejczyk’s successful title defense against Valerie Letourneau in Melbourne, Australia, the featherweight kingpin said the Polish striker is one of the few fighters he likes to watch today.
"I love her," Aldo told Brazilian media recently in Rio de Janeiro. "That’s a fight that I stopped to watch, I slept during the others. I asked them to wake me up when it was time for her to fight. I love that girl fighting, man."
Jedrzejczyk will likely defend her title against Aldo’s teammate Claudia Gadelha next, and Aldo is confident the Nova Uniao fighter is able to win the UFC title despite Jedrzejczyk’s abilities.
"There’s Claudinha, or course, I cheer for her to become champion, but I’m huge fan of (Jedrzejczyk) because of her fighting style, with an excellent kickboxing," Aldo said. "She’s growing each and every fight, so that’s someone I stop to watch."
"First of all, train hard, avoid her striking," he said of how Gadelha can beat Jedrzejczyk in a rematch, after losing the first contest in a close decision. "That girl hits like a man, it hurts. And she’s fast. She has the same name of my daughter, so she’s a champion, brother. Joanna is amazing. But I think it’s training.
"She has to train hard. I can’t talk about it because it’s our thing so we have to tell her when she’s here, but she knows. She knows, and you know she has to use her grappling because there’s where she has a big possibility of becoming champion."
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