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Five Jessica Andrade Fights To Watch
A Handful Of Jessica Andrade Fights You Need To Watch Before She Returns To The Octagon To Take On Natalia Silva At UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady
There are few more accomplished fighters in the UFC than former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade, who holds the record for most wins in women’s UFC history with 17.
While the 32-year-old still has a lot more to show inside the Octagon, Andrade’s already built a lasting legacy full of highlight reel finishes and memorable performances against some of the biggest names in the UFC.
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Andrade returns to the Octagon this Saturday for a flyweight bout against fellow Brazilian Natalia Silva, who is riding an 11-fight win streak into their clash at UFC APEX. Before Andrade makes her 28th walk to the Octagon in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady, take a seat and relive some of her greatest performances:
vs Rose Namajunas
The biggest win of Jessica Andrade’s illustrious career came back in 2019, when she captured UFC strawweight gold at UFC 237. Her opponent, then-champion Rose Namajunas, was coming off back-to-back wins over one of the best 115-pound fighters to ever do it, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. But one thing that’s stayed constant over Andrade’s entire career is that she fears no challenge, and she proved that against Namajunas.
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After weathering the storm in the first five minutes, Andrade continued to press forward in the second, initiating every engagement with the champion. With just over two minutes to go in the round, Andrade initiated a clinch up against the side of the Octagon, lifted Namajunas in the air and slammed her, knocking Namajunas out cold to become the UFC strawweight champion.
vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz
So how did Andrade earn her title shot against Namajunas? Well, eight months earlier, Andrade sent a clear message that she was next to fight for the belt with a Performance of the Night-earning finish over former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
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Only two minutes into the opening round, Andrade landed a right hand that sent Kowalkiewicz crashing to the canvas. No follow up shots were necessary, and no more needed to be said or done to earn Andrade a fight for UFC gold.
vs Mackenzie Dern
Andrade’s most recent finish came in November of last year, when she faced one of the strawweight division’s most decorated grapplers, Mackenzie Dern. Despite the unique challenge in front of her, Andrade stuck to the same game plan she always does: constantly move forward and land heavy shots. This approach helped her deliver one of the most punishing performances of her career.
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While the strikes were nearly even throughout the first round, Andrade stuffed all three of Dern’s takedown attempts, keeping the fight exactly where she wanted. With five seconds to go in the round, Andrade landed her first knockdown of the night to go ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards. In the second round, Andrade started pouring on the pressure, landing three more knockdowns before the referee stopped the fight.
vs Amanda Lemos
After three consecutive fights at 125 pounds in 2020 and 2021, Andrade returned to strawweight for a main event clash with former title challenger Amanda Lemos. Both fighters are known for their heavy hands, so this matchup seemed to be a striker’s delight, but it only took three minutes for fans to remember that Andrade is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
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Midway through the first round, Lemos overextended on a right cross, allowing Andrade to clinch and push her up against the Octagon. But it wasn’t any ordinary clinch; Andrade had sunk in a standing arm-triangle. About 30 seconds later, Lemos tapped to give Andrade her eighth submission win of her pro career.
vs Katlyn Cerminara
In her first UFC flyweight bout, Andrade faced a very unique challenge in Katlyn Cerminara. Not only was Andrade fighting at 125 pounds, but her opponent was also nearly eight inches taller. Oh, and at the time of their fight, Cerminara was also the No. 1 flyweight contender.
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With a little over 10 seconds to go in the opening round, Andrade landed a right hook to the body that drew a very strong reaction from Cerminara, who retreated quickly to the other side of the Octagon. Andrade chased her down and landed a devastating follow up blow to the body to close the show with just five seconds to go in the first.
UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
