Jessica Andrade appears to cease Natalia Silva’s rise within the flyweight division after they meet within the co-main occasion of UFC Vegas 97 on Sept. 7, and he or she desires gold subsequent.
The previous UFC strawweight champion advised MMA Combating that she plans to name for a shot at a belt if victorious subsequent week in Las Vegas no matter weight class, and made her case for the creation of a girls’s BMF title.
“I’ve been speaking to Joanna [Jedrzejczyk] and he or she mentioned she’d come again. If it’s for this [BMF] belt, she would come again,” Andrade mentioned. “I feel that might be an excellent battle. Joanna, or perhaps Angela Hill, who by no means walks away from a battle and is at all times there combating everybody. Or Valentina [Shevchenko]. Any of these ladies could be nice, however I feel it might be particular if it’s Joanna. It could be higher.”
No feminine UFC athlete has extra wins (17) and finishes (9) within the octagon than Andrade. Her lengthy checklist of victims consists of Rose Namajunas, Mackenzie Dern, Amanda Lemos, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
Andrade fought Jedrzejczyk in her first shot on the strawweight title in 2017, dropping through choice, however got here again to win the belt two years later by stopping Namajunas. Andrade additionally challenged Shevchenko for the 125-pound title in 2021, dropping through second-round knockout.
Jedrzejczyk’s win over Andrade was her remaining title protection earlier than dropping back-to-back fights in opposition to Namajunas. The Polish star then returned to the win column with a 2018 choice over Tecia Pennington, and moved up in weight to problem Shevchenko for the vacant flyweight title however misplaced by unanimous choice.
Jedrzejczyk’s remaining shot at UFC gold got here in 2020, when she dropped a legendary cut up choice to 115-pound champion Zhang Weili in one of many best fights in MMA historical past. Jedrzejczyk retired from MMA in 2022 following a knockout loss to Zhang within the rematch.
“[Jedrzejczyk] mentioned she would battle at 125, not at 115, and that might be even higher for me as a result of I really feel nice on this division as nicely,” Andrade mentioned. “I wouldn’t be too affected by the burden loss or any of that. I feel we might placed on a present and do an unbelievable battle, and I might get that one again.”
