Joanna Jedrzejczyk head butts Karolina Kowalkiewicz after intense staredown
NEW YORK — Joanna Jedrzejczyk isn't as loud or as boisterous as Conor McGregor, but she has a great way of getting into her opponent's head before a fight just like the UFC featherweight champion.
While Jedrzejczyk sat back and soaked in the loud crowd inside Madison Square Garden on Thursday, she still managed to engage in a little mental warfare with opponent Karolina Kowalkiewicz after the pre-fight press conference was over.
The two Polish strawweights didn't have much to say to each other during the question and answer period, but the tension was thick when Jedrzejczyk and Kowalkiewicz came together for the customary pre-fight face off.
As soon as the two fighters marched across the stage, Jedrzejczyk got directly in Kowalkiewicz's face and to her credit the top ranked women's strawweight contender didn't back down one big as she came nose to nose with the champion.
UFC president Dana White was quick to put his arm in between the two fighters to make sure nothing too crazy erupted, but he probably didn't expect what happened next.
Never one to be out done on the best stare down in the game. @joannamma is the GOAT #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/OoPb34kjW4
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) November 10, 2016
Kowalkiewicz continued to press her head towards the champion, so Jedrzejczyk responded with a full-on head butt as she pushed her opponent away as White quickly jumped in to intervene.
Jedrzejczyk had a few words for Kowalkiewicz as they stayed separated following the intense face-off but the champion wasn't done just yet.
Before leaving the stage, Jedrzejczyk kissed her fist and pointed it directly at Kowalkiewicz as the crowd erupted in approval.
Kowalkiewicz has shown a lot of confidence leading up to her fight with Jedrzejczyk, but as the champion told the Fight Society podcast earlier this week, that's nothing new to her.
"They think they have come for me. They know how to beat me but there is no way," Jedrzejczyk said. "There is no easy way to do this.
"They can have hundreds of game plans until the time they step into the Octagon with me."
