Greatest or not, Jedrzejczyk made colossal impact on UFC

In hindsight, it wasn't too surprising Joanna Jedrzejczyk retired over the weekend.

She hadn't fought in 27 months. Part of that, of course, was because she needed time to recover from the damage absorbed in her 2020 "Fight of the Year" with Zhang Weili. But the biggest reason was that fighting wasn't a priority for Jedrzejczyk anymore. She had other things going on in her life. Business ventures outside of the Octagon. Opportunities that don't require you to get beat up. Jedrzejczyk had, in some ways, outgrown MMA.

Two things were clear: If the former UFC strawweight champion were to come back rather than simply ride off into the sunset, it'd be for a big fight and an appropriate amount of money.

She, presumably, got both at UFC 275 in Singapore. UFC president Dana White promised the winner of Saturday's rematch between Jedrzejczyk and Zhang a title shot against newly crowned champ Carla Esparza, raising the stakes even more from when Jedrzejczyk signed on to run back the greatest women's MMA bout in history.

Well, Jedrzejczyk lost. She put up a good effort against an explosive and terrifying opponent who looked like she would have beaten anyone in her way that night. But Zhang's spinning backfist in Round 2 ended Jedrzejczyk's night - and her career.

"Guys, I love life so much," Jedrzejczyk told Daniel Cormier after the fight. "I will join DC's league. I'm retired."

To work her way back up to title contention, Jedrzejczyk would've had to take on a contender like Marina Rodriguez or Mackenzie Dern. But that's not what she wanted to have to do at this stage of her career - 34 years old, eight years into her UFC tenure. She came back with the sole purpose of becoming "Joanna Champion" again. A knockout loss to Zhang derailed that plan, at least for the immediate future. And it might've never happened anyway.

As soon as Jedrzejczyk left the Octagon for the final time, the MMA community began to debate her legacy - how she'll be remembered - because we apparently can't enjoy a nice moment for even a few seconds. Some people are confident she's the greatest strawweight of all time. And with five consecutive title defenses - the most in division history - it's a fair argument to make. Some feel just as strongly that she isn't worthy of the moniker, that two losses to Rose Namajunas and a 2-5 end to her career place the American ahead of her.

Regardless of where you stand, there's no denying the impact Jedrzejczyk had on the division.

Strawweight, despite it being around for less time than women's bantamweight, is widely viewed as the best, most exciting women's division in the UFC. That's been the case for years, largely because of Jedrzejczyk's efforts.

Esparza claimed the inaugural title by winning "The Ultimate Fighter 20" in 2014, but her reign didn't last long - three months, to be exact. Jedrzejczyk battered Esparza en route to a second-round TKO and a historic run as champion. It was Jedrzejczyk who put the division on the map, who became the face of it - not Esparza, Namajunas, Claudia Gadelha, or anyone else.

"She was such a huge part of the growth of women's MMA," White told Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole.

Some called Jedrzejczyk arrogant. She would play mind games with her opponents. She would get in their faces at weigh-ins, making for some of the most memorable stare-downs in UFC history. But the dominant champion deserved to be confident. She knocked off contender after contender, each presenting a unique challenge. For almost three years, Jedrzejczyk was a level above everyone.

In turn, she made her fellow strawweights - and therefore the division as a whole - better. The entire time Jedrzejczyk was champ, Namajunas, Esparza, Gadelha, Jessica Andrade, and many others chased what she had. They trained with the sole purpose of beating her. They needed to be good as her - and that was difficult to do.

A fighter's career almost never ends the way they want it to. Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar, Demetrious Johnson ... all great fighters who eventually lost. Some more than others. So, was getting knocked out by Zhang the ideal way for Jedrzejczyk to flip the page to a new chapter? How about losing five of her last seven fights? No. Of course not. Jedrzejczyk wanted to be champ again.

But don't let that be an excuse to forget what she did, what she accomplished. Jedrzejczyk, who wasn't even considered the best strawweight to miss "The Ultimate Fighter 20" eight years ago, took the division and made it her own. She elevated it in a way that no peer has been able to replicate.