Jessica Andrade aims to halt Natalia Silva‘s ascent in the flyweight division at UFC Vegas 97 and plans to demand a title shot, advocating for a women’s BMF belt and expressing interest in a potential fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk or other top contenders.
Jessica Andrade is set to halt Natalia Silva’s ascent in the flyweight division at UFC Vegas 97 on Sept. 7. She has her eyes on gold next.
The former UFC strawweight champion shared with MMA Fighting her plans to call for a title shot if she wins in Las Vegas, regardless of weight class. Andrade also pitched the idea of a women’s BMF (Baddest Motherf***er) title.
"I’ve been talking to Joanna [Jedrzejczyk], and she said she’d come back. If it’s for this [BMF] belt, she would come back," Andrade revealed. "I think that would be a good fight."
Joanna, Angela Hill, Valentina Shevchenko—any of those girls would be great opponents, Andrade mused. But a fight with Joanna? That would be special.
No female UFC athlete boasts more wins (17) and finishes (9) in the octagon than Andrade. Her list of victims includes Rose Namajunas, Mackenzie Dern, Amanda Lemos, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
Andrade first challenged Jedrzejczyk for the strawweight title in 2017 but lost via decision. Two years later, she claimed the belt by stopping Namajunas.
In 2021, Andrade faced Shevchenko for the 125-pound title but was knocked out in the second round. Tough fights, no doubt.
Jedrzejczyk’s win over Andrade marked her final title defense before losing twice to Namajunas. She bounced back with a 2018 decision victory over Tecia Pennington.
Afterward, Joanna moved up in weight to challenge Shevchenko for the vacant flyweight title but lost by unanimous decision.
Her last shot at UFC gold came in 2020 against Zhang Weili in an epic split decision loss. Joanna retired from MMA in 2022 following a knockout loss to Zhang in their rematch.
"[Jedrzejczyk] said she would fight at 125, not at 115," Andrade noted. "That would be even better for me because I feel great in this division as well."
Weight cut issues? Not a problem here. "We would put on a show and do an incredible fight," Andrade concluded. "I would get that one back."