What’s Next For Jessica Andrade?

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Jessica Andrade made UFC history a few months ago when she faced off against Amanda Lemos and got the victory with the First ever Submission by Standing Arm-Triangle Choke in UFC history. Andrade the Former Strawweight Champion has many fights that i think would make sense for her on her way to fight current Champion Carla Esparza.  One Possible matchup is between her and grappling ace Mackenzie Dern. Another matchup that would make sense would be between Andrade and  the loser of the fight between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jędrzejczyk. The third option which I really like is a matchup between former two time Strawweight champ Rose Namajunas. 

Mackenzie Dern is a very interesting matchup for Andrade as they both have Submission skills.  Dern has many grappling achievements and looked great in her last performance when she got into the win column against striking expert Tecia Torres. Dern has an impressive 12-2 record and is a few fights away from fighting for the UFC Strawweight title. It may make perfect sense for Dern’s path to the title to go through former champion Andrade.    

The loser of Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Weili Zhang at UFC 275 would be an interesting matchup for Andrade; former UFC Strawweight champions Jedrzejczyk and Zhang will face off in the rematch of their epic championship bout, and we think that the loser of the bout could be matched up with Andrade. A rematch bout with Jedrzejczyk would be an interesting matchup for Andrade as the two are different fighters from the first time the matched up with Joanna Jedrzecjyk improving on her already amazing striking game training everyday since her war with Zhang on the feet and Andrade also gotten better on the feet in recent outings not just relying on her Jiu Jitsu.

Rose Namajunas will always be linked to Andrade as it was Namajunas who Andrade won her belt from at UFC 237. In their second matchup Namajunas won a very close Split Decision. Namajunas is much like Andrade as she has very good ground game but also has a very good striking game. Namajunas looked rough in her last outing not doing much of anything in the fight while receiving awful coaching from her corner and fiance. On the other hand Andrade looked awesome in her last outing. We definitely think Andrade would win a matchup against Namajunas.

We can’t wait to see who Andrade will face in her next outing and whoever she faces will bring the fight.

Fighter Profile: Joanna Jędrzejczyk

Joanna Jędrzejczyk is without a doubt one of the scariest female fighters to have ever reigned over a UFC Women’s division. The self pronounced Boogie woman reigned supreme over the Strawweight division for four years beating an impressive list of names in multiple title defenses.  Jędrzejczyk is set to come back to the UFC Octagon for the first time since she fought Zhang Weili before the Pandemic and sustained one of the most gruesome head injuries mma fans have ever seen.

Jędrzejczyk was born August 18, 1987 in Olsztyn, Poland. She started her journey into martial arts when she was 16 after discovering  Muay Thai. She’d start taking Muay Thai classes with hopes to compete in the art. She’d do just that winning about 60 Muay Thai and Kickboxing matches over a ten year span. During this span Jędrzejczyk would win an impressive five world titles including the WKN World Championship, J Girls Championship, WBKF Championship, WKF European Championship, and the WMC Championship. She’d soon switch her focus to Mixed Martial Arts.

Jędrzejczyk would make her MMA debut against Sylwia Juśkiewicz in May of 2012 she’d win by Unanimous Decision. She’d then go face Lily Kazak in December of 2012 winning by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke.) Jędrzejczyk would then face Kate Jackson winning by TKO (doctor stoppage.) She’d face three more fighters in smaller promotions, she’d beat all of these fighters and would get the call to fight for the UFC.

 Jędrzejczyk would make her UFC debut against Juliana Lima winning by Unanimous Decision. From there she’d face Cláudia Gadelha winning in a controversial Split Decision. This would be a title eliminator and in her next bout she’d fight Carla Esparza for the UFC Women’s Strawweight title winning by TKO (Punches.) She’d make her first two successful title defenses against Jessica Penne and Valérie Létourneau. 

 Jędrzejczyk  would then go on to Coach The Ultimate Fighter against heated rival Cláudia Gadelha the two would face each other at the conclusion of the Season with Jędrzejczyk winning the second meeting. She defended the  belt successfully two more times against Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Jéssica Andrade before losing the belt to Rose Namajunas at UFC 217. Jędrzejczyk would then face Namajunas again. She’d then face Tecia Torres winning by Unanimous Decision. She’d then move up to fight for the vacant Flyweight Title losing by Unanimous decision. She’d win her next fight against Michelle Waterson before losing a Split Decision to Zhang Weili at UFC 248 for the Strawweight title.

We hope Jędrzejczyk makes a successful return to the UFC Octagon sometime soon!

Fighter Profile: Jessica Andrade

Andrade after victory Photo courtesy of Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images

Jéssica Andrade is one of the best female fighters in the UFC and is currently ranked first in the UFC Flyweight division right under Current Champion Valentina Schevchenko and sixth in the overall pound for pound rankings. The Former Strawweight champion has a 22-9 record and if you look at her nine losses you will quickly realize that she lost to all of the most dangerous women in the world who were at the top of their game.

 Andrade was born in Umuarama, Paraná, Brazil on September 25, 1991 she is the daughter of parents who were farmers and she would work on her family’s farm until it was municipalized and thus her child labor was not allowed anymore. Growing up she played soccer and she even got offers to play for a São Paulo Soccer club, but her parents would not let her move, at this time Andrade decided to train Judo and eventually would also take up Jiu Jitsu. She’d eventually earn a Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Gilliard Paraná.

Andrade would soon turn her focus to MMA. She’d make her professional MMA debut against Weidy Borges on September 6, 2011 Andrade would win by TKO (Punches.) She’d then face Bruna Fernandes winning by TKO (Punches.) She then get the first loss of her career when she faced Kinberly Novaes in May of 2012. She’d get back to her winning ways two weeks later when she faced Lilian Correia winning by TKO (Body Punch.)  She’d win her next five fights before dropping a fight to Jennifer Maia in Samurai FC. She’d win her next two fights both by Submission before going to the UFC.

Andrade would make her UFC debut in July of 2013 when she faced off against Liz Carmouche. Andrade would unfortunately lose the bout by TKO. She’d win her next the fights against Rosi Sexton, Raquel Pennington, and Larissa Pacheco. She’d then lose two of her next three including a rematch with Raquel Pennington. She’d then move down to Strawweight where she’d face Jessica Penne in her Strawweight debut Winning by TKO (Punches.) She’d win her next two fights against Joanne Calderwood and Angela Hill before she faced off against Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 211 for the Strawweight Belt.

Andrade was not deterred and would win her next bout against Cláudia Gadelha. She’d then face Tecia Torres winning by unanimous decision. Karolina Kowalkiewicz would be up next for Andrade she knocked her out in round one. She’d then face Rose Namajunas at UFC 237 the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship. Andrade would win by KO (Slam) and thus winning the title. She’d then lose her belt her next fight when she faced Zhang Weili. She’d then face Namajunas again ultimately losing a Split Decision. She’d get back in the win column against Katlyn Chookagian when she went up a weight class winning by TKO (Body Punches) she’d then get a shot at the Flyweight title against Valentina Schevchenko. Schevchenko would win by TKO (Elbows.) She’d win her next fight against Cynthia Calvillo by TKO (Punches) at UFC 266.

Andrade is set to face Amanda Lemos in April and will hopefully get two in a row.