In recent times, the MMA scene has seen a significant number of Polish MMA fighters in top promotions getting a lot of success. Some of them have made an impact in big European promotions like KSW, while some have even gotten the biggest achievement that you can get in the sport, winning a UFC title.
Let’s see who are the best Polish MMA fighters in history and what are their biggest accomplishments.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is a Polish mixed martial artist and former UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion. She is widely considered one of the greatest female fighters in the history of the sport and one of the top female strikers of all time.
Jedrzejczyk joined the UFC in 2014 and quickly made a name for herself, winning her first six fights in the organization, including a title-winning performance against Carla Esparza in 2015.
She went on to defend the strawweight championship a record-tying five times, facing and defeating some of the top contenders in the division, including Claudia Gadelha, Jessica Andrade, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
Jedrzejczyk is known for her striking ability, with an aggressive, high-volume striking style that has led to several spectacular knockouts. She is also well-rounded, with strong grappling skills and a solid ground game.
In recent years, Jedrzejczyk has faced some challenges in her career, including a pair of losses to current strawweight champion Zhang Weili and a close split decision defeat to Valentina Shevchenko in a bid for the flyweight title. Despite these setbacks, Jedrzejczyk retired as a fan favorite and her name will always be written in the history of the UFC.
Jan Blachowicz
A light heavyweight, Blachowicz has a professional record of 29 wins, 9 losses, and 1 draw, and is known for his well-rounded skill set, with strong striking and grappling abilities. He has built a reputation for being a fighter that never backs down from a challenge and has always got back up after difficulties in his career, especially in the UFC.
In his career with the UFC, he had a stint of losses in the period from 2015 to 2017. He magnificently came back and in 2020 won the Light Heavyweight Title against Dominick Reyes. Jan Blachowicz will also be remembered as the first man to defeat Israel Adesanya in his first title defense when Adesanya moved up a division and challenged for the Light Heavyweight title.
Losing his title against a Brazilian MMA legend Glover Teixeira in 2021 made Blachowitz a contender once again and he promised to fight for a title soon. The title fight came a year later against Magomed Ankalaev which ended in a controversial draw.
Nevertheless, Blachowicz’s UFC career has been a remarkable rise to the top, and he continues to be a dominant force in the light heavyweight division.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz
A former KSW Women’s Flyweight Champion, Karolina Kowalkiewicz is a Polish mixed martial artist who competes in the UFC’s strawweight division. Before transitioning to MMA, Kowalkiewicz trained in Krav Maga and Muay Thai, which had a big influence on her current fighting style.
Kowalkiewicz joined the UFC in 2015 and quickly made a name for herself, winning her first three fights in the organization, including a victory over Randa Markos and a close split decision against Rose Namajunas.
This was enough to get a title challenge against then-champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. In her fight against Jedrzejczyk, Kowalkiewicz gave a strong showing but ultimately came up short in a unanimous decision defeat.
Tough her career in the UFC has had some downs, mainly in the period from 2018 to 2021, Kowalkiewicz earned two wins in 2022 and is looking to get her career back on track.
Marcin Tybura
Marcin Tybura joined the UFC in 2016 and has since established himself as a well-rounded fighter with a strong grappling and striking skillset. Tybura has a professional record of 21 wins and 6 losses, with several notable victories over top-ranked opponents such as Stefan Struve, Luis Henrique, and Andrei Arlovski.
Despite some ups and downs in his career, he remains a top-10 fighter in the heavyweight division and continues to be a threat to anyone in the weight class.
Mateusz Gamrot
Mateusz “Gamer” Gamrot is the current #7 UFC Lightweight and a former two-division champion in KSW. Gamrot has a professional record of 21 wins and 2 losses, with this most recent loss coming by the way of a unanimous decision to Beneil Dariush.
Gamrot is considered as one of the best European fighters in the UFC’s Lightweight division, and he solidified that status by defeating Jeremy Stephens, Diego Ferreira, and most notably, Arman Tsarukyan.
Krzysztof Jotko
Jotko joined UFC’s Middleweight division in 2013 with a record of 13-0. Jotko won his first fight in the UFC, lost the second to Magnus Cedenblad, and then started a five-fight winning streak.
He lost the next three fights to more serious contenders like Uriah Hall and Brad Tavares but came back with another winning streak. With a record of 24-6, and a majority of his victories coming by decision, Krzysztof Jotko left the UFC at the end of 2022.