5 Defining Moments: Karolina Kowalkiewicz

While Karolina Kowalkiewicz may be a little long in the tooth at just shy of 40 years of age, she still offers plenty of potential bite as an Ultimate Fighting Championship gatekeeper at 115 pounds.

The 39-year-old Lodz, Poland, native will look to put her best foot forward when she collides with Denise Gomes in a UFC Vegas 100 women’s strawweight showcase this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Kowalkiewicz has enjoyed something of a resurgence over the last two years, with wins in four of her past five outings. However, she finds herself on the rebound following a unanimous decision defeat to Iasmin Lucindo in their three-round UFC 301 encounter on May 4.

Ahead of Kowalkiewicz’s forthcoming confrontation with Gomes in Sin City, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define her:

1. Crown Jewel

Kowalkiewicz laid claim to the vacant Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki flyweight championship when she turned away Marta Chojnoska with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their featured KSW 23 attraction on June 8, 2013 at Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. Referee Piotr Baginski waved it off 71 seconds into Round 1. Kowalkiewicz made her way to the Octopus Lodz rep’s back, secured position with both hooks and went to work on the choke. Once it was in place, Chojnoska had no choice but to raise the white flag. More than a decade later, it remains the fastest finish on the Kowalkiewicz resume.

2. A Place at the Table

Kowalkiewicz cemented her place as the No. 1 contender in the women’s strawweight division with a split decision over “The Ultimate Fighter 20” finalist Rose Namajunas in the UFC 201 co-main event on July 30, 2016 at Philips Arena in Atlanta. All three judges scored it 29-28: Chris Lee for Namajunas, Ken Coffey and Jeff Mullen for Kowalkiewicz. Namajunas countered beautifully in the first round, cutting off the KSW and Invicta Fighting Championships veteran with both hands. Kowalkiewicz made the necessary adjustment in the second, lured the Grudge Training Center standout into the clinch and battered her with knees to the body and standing elbows to the head. The work paid dividends, as Namajunas’ movements became slower, her breathing more labored. Kowalkiewicz not surprisingly closed the distance again in Round 3. There, she uncorked more knees to the body, tagged Namajunas with a right uppercut and drove her to the mat, settling in guard. Kowalkiewicz then piled up points with ground-and-pound, avoiding armbar, heel hook and omoplata attempts from “Thug Rose” in the closing moments.

3. Stumbling Block

A violent whirlwind of skill, speed and technique at her peak, Joanna Jedrzejczyk turned away another would-be successor when she claimed a unanimous decision from Kowalkiewicz and retained the undisputed women’s strawweight title in a UFC 205 co-feature on Nov. 12, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three members of the cageside judiciary scored it 49-46. The then-unbeaten champion battered Kowalkiewicz with leg kicks, crisp punching combinations and standing elbows in the clinch. Jedrzejczyk was briefly dazed in the fourth round, where a clean right hand to the face buckled her knees. She withstood Kowalkiewicz’s bid to finish, cleared her head and picked up where she left off. By the time it was over, Jedrzejczyk had outpaced her challenger by a staggering 171-50 margin in significant strikes landed.

4. Power Hitter

Andrade did everything within her power to establish herself as the top contender at 115 pounds when she punched out the well-respected Pole in the first round of their UFC 228 co-headliner on Sept. 8, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. A semi-conscious Kowalkiewicz hit the deck on the end of a right hook 1:58 into Round 1. No follow-up shots were necessary. Operating in the shadows of the Tyron Woodley-Darren Till main event, the 5-foot-2 Andrade capped a memorable performance with the ultimate exclamation point. It remains the only knockout loss of Kowalkiewicz’s outstanding 24-fight career.

5. Walking the ‘Lil Bulldog’

Kowalkiewicz closed the book on a five-fight losing streak when she disposed of Felice Herrig with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their featured UFC Fight Night 207 prelim on June 4, 2022 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The end came 4:01 into Round 2. Kowalkiewicz zeroed in on her counterpart with sharp punching combinations, close-range elbows and damaging knee strikes in a tone-setting first round. She stonewalled an attempted takedown from Herrig in the middle stanza, took top position and advanced to the back. Once secured, Kowalkiewicz softened the Jeff Curran protégé with persistent ground-and-pound before slipping her arms into place for the fight-ending choke. Afterward, Herrig announced her retirement from mixed martial arts.