Joanna Jedrzejczyk had a pretty great year in 2015.
After closing out her freshman year in the Octagon with a split decision win over Claudia Gadelha, the Polish kickboxer used her sophomore campaign to become the queen of the strawweight division and one of the most beloved superstars on the UFC roster.
At UFC 185 in March, she told reporters that instead of learning how to properly pronounce her challenging last name, they could just call her “Joanna Champion.” That was before she walked into the cage and beat Carla Esparza to actually win the title. From there, the noted sneakerhead who was stoked about finally getting her hands on some limited edition Kendrick Lamar’s Saturday night at UFC 196, added impressive wins over Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau to her resume, establishing herself as a dominant force in the division.