Carla Esparza vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk announced as UFC 185 co-main event

After a full season of exposure on The Ultimate Fighter on Fox Sports 1, the women's 115 lbs division's second championship fight will be on the co-main event of a UFC PPV. Formally announced by the UFC this evening, strawweight champion Carla Esparza will go up against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185 in Dallas on March 14th.

The champ @CarlaEsparza1 defends her title for the first time at #UFC185 vs @JoannaMMA! http://t.co/j9yo0c47ZM pic.twitter.com/4awnTI3Egr

— UFC (@ufc) January 15, 2015

Esparza (10-2) entered the TUF house as Invicta's strawweight champion, and she earned the top seed in the TUF 20 tournament as a result. After winning all of her fights on the show via decision, she finished Rose Namajunas with a rear-naked choke in the season finale to become the UFC's first women's 115 lbs champ.

Jedrzejczyk (8-0) made her UFC debut in July, defeating Juliana Lima by unanimous decision. The native of Poland then scored an upset split decision win over the highly touted Claudia Gadelha last month in Phoenix. Jedrzejczyk, known for her Muay Thai skills, recorded a knockdown of Gadelha at the end of the 1st round and was close to getting the TKO finish.

UFC 185 features a lightweight title fight between Anthony Pettis and Rafael dos Anjos, as well as a welterweight clash between Johny Hendricks and Matt Brown.