10 MMA Champions Who Held World Titles Elsewhere
5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (5-Time World Muay Thai Champion)
Like anyone seeking to get fit, Joanna Jędrzejczyk sought to find a means that allowed her to fulfil that remit, while also enjoying herself.
Muay Thai was her answer.
Competing in European and national tournaments in her native Poland set Jędrzejczyk on her way to a decade of supremacy in amateur Muay Thai and Kickboxing, winning 60 bouts.
To further press home the point of just how good the former UFC Strawweight Champion was in this period, she won FIVE gold medals (57kg) back-to-back at the IFMA World Championships (2009-2013).
Her undoubted excellence in Muay Thai crossed over into her MMA career where she now holds a record of 15-3, after going her first 14 matches undefeated.
Jędrzejczyk would face Valentina Shevchenko (more in her after) for the vacant Flyweight Championship in December 2018. Shevchenko seemed to have Jędrzejczyk's number throughout their amateur career - beating her in all three previous encounters. This night would be no different, with Shevchenko taking the win by unanimous decision.
The Polish world champion will face Michelle Waterson next at UFC Fight Night 161 in an attempt to rebuild some of that precious aura.