UFC Strawweight Champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk Gets Thumb Surgery, Expects 2015 Return

Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the UFC women's strawweight champion and maybe the most exciting fighter to break onto the big stage this year, underwent thumb surgery Friday.

The news came early on Friday in a post published to Jedrzejczyk's official Instagram account (h/t MMA Junkie):

The bad news: This will keep Jedrzejczyk out of action longer than was originally estimated. In late June, she told The MMA Hour (h/t MMA Fighting) that her fractured thumb would not require surgery and she would miss four weeks at most. Now, however, she could miss three months or more.

The good news: Jedrzejczyk still expects to return to action by the end of 2015.

"Yesterday I had an appointment with Dr. Shin and surgery was necessary," the Instagram post stated. "So today we had the procedure at Kerlan-Jobe, surgery was a success and everybody at the hospital was super nice to me. If everything goes OK, I will be back in time to fight before the end of the year."

Jedrzejczyk (10-0) broke the thumb on June 20 during a dominant third-round technical knockout of Jessica Penne. It was the 27-year-old's first defense of her title.

A world muay thai champion before donning MMA gloves, the Poland native debuted for the UFC almost a year ago and announced her presence with authority.

Decision wins over Juliana Lima and Claudia Gadelha—not to mention her high-octane style and cleverness on the microphone—led her to a title shot in March against Carla Esparza, the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 and inaugural UFC strawweight champion.

Jedrzejczyk won that bout and the title with a second-round knockout. Both that and her knockout of Penne earned her post-fight performance bonuses from the UFC.

She is a five-time gold medalist at the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur World Championships, taking the top spot from 2009 to 2013.