The fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and then-UFC women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili at UFC 248, directly before the pandemic hit on March 9, 2020, was an instant classic. In the post-fight deliberations, before Zhang was awarded a very close decision win by the judges, it was already considered the best female fight in combat sports history and not far off being the best MMA fight of all time.

Between then and this weekend at UFC 275, Zhang went on to fight against Rose Namajunas twice, losing the first to a shock headkick KO and the second in an evenly matched, back-and-forth bout in which she showed significantly increased grappling skills thanks to new coach Henry Cejudo and overall better game planning.

As for Jędrzejczyk, she practically disappeared. A massive hematoma left her unrecognizable at the end of the bout so a long absence was expected – but then she became something of a brand ambassador and TV personality back in her native Poland and after a lengthy period of inactivity, she was removed from the UFC's active fighter pool, so it was assumed she had retired.

Instead, when asked, she insisted she was waiting for a big fight and a payday to match. Taking Jędrzejczyk's history of being a former strawweight champion who defended her belt five times and how close the fight with Zhang was – a poll of MMA media outlets showed most believed she had won – it was clear the rematch was the fight the UFC had to make and two years, three months and four days later, they did.

Questions about Jędrzejczyk's inactivity were somewhat quelled when she came to the UFC Octagon looking more intense than ever. A devout Christian, she paused and prayed outside the cage for a noticeably long time. Then when the fight began, she looked exactly as she did two years ago, bouncing around with a high-and-tight muay thai posture.

However, two years is a long time in MMA and it was less than 30 seconds before she looked outclassed. Zhang's footwork had her springing out the way of Jędrzejczyk's opening salvos, making the Polish fighter look like she was anxiously jabbing at nothing instead of testing her range. Likewise, when they did engage, Zhang was cleaner and crisper, doing more damage.

Then Zhang showed off her Cejudo-style wrestling. Jedrzejczyk looked lost. She eventually escaped, ending the round on her feet, but she spent the majority of the round's back half struggling to get free from Zhang's control, getting pounded with hard elbows all the while, without any kind of visible ground game of her own.

Round 2 began with Jędrzejczyk going faster and throwing harder. Anything that made contact stung Zhang and forced her to flinch. But it did seem like she was trying to be better instead of actually being better and soon began to get repetitive, putting her whole body weight behind the one-two combinations every time.

At 2:28 in the second round, Zhang timed her approach perfectly and as Jedrzejczyk jabbed, she span around and hit her clean with a spinning backfist. It hit Jedrzejczyk on the temple and knocked her out cold, causing her to fall forwards and land face first on the mat.

It was a far cry from the era where she was nicknamed Joanna Violence and leaving opponents like Claudia Gadelha and Carla Esparza in bloody messes.

This was the first ever spinning backfist KO in women's MMA history and the performance overall was impressive enough for UFC President Dana White to confirm Zhang Weili is next in line for a shot at strawweight champion Esparza.

But as the Chinese fighter was celebrating her historic win, Jedrzejczyk could be seen in the background taking off her gloves and leaving them on the mat. When Cormier went to speak to her, she confirmed the gesture: "I'm retired, guys," she said, "I love you so much. UFC, Dana, I'm so sorry I let you down. It's been 20 years. I'm turning 35 this year. I want to be a mom. I want to be a businesswoman. I appreciate you all, I love you guys."

With an MMA record of 16-5, with an undefeated streak of 14 that lasted from 2012 to 2017, Joanna Jedrzejczyk retires as a pioneer of female MMA and one of the greatest champions the UFC has ever seen.

(Header: Zhang Weili celebrates following her KO win in the strawweight rematch with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore, June 12, 2022. /Zuffa)