Jessica Andrade looks to stop Natalia Silva’s rise in the flyweight division when they meet in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 97 on Sept. 7, and she wants gold next.
The former UFC strawweight champion told MMA Fighting that she plans to call for a shot at a belt if victorious next week in Las Vegas regardless of weight class, and made her case for the creation of a women’s BMF 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 said. “I think that would be a good fight. Joanna, or maybe Angela Hill, who never walks away from a fight and is always there fighting everyone. Or Valentina [Shevchenko]. Any of those girls would be great, but I think it would be special if it’s Joanna. It would be better.”
No female UFC athlete has more wins (17) and finishes (9) in the octagon than Andrade. Her long list of victims includes Rose Namajunas, Mackenzie Dern, Amanda Lemos, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
Andrade fought Jedrzejczyk in her first shot at the strawweight title in 2017, losing via decision, but came back to win the belt two years later by stopping Namajunas. Andrade also challenged Shevchenko for the 125-pound title in 2021, losing via second-round knockout.
Jedrzejczyk’s win over Andrade was her final title defense before losing back-to-back fights against Namajunas. The Polish star then returned to the win column with a 2018 decision over Tecia Pennington, and moved up in weight to challenge Shevchenko for the vacant flyweight title but lost by unanimous decision.
Jedrzejczyk’s final shot at UFC gold came in 2020, when she dropped a legendary split decision to 115-pound champion Zhang Weili in one of the greatest fights in MMA history. Jedrzejczyk retired from MMA in 2022 following a knockout loss to Zhang in the rematch.
“[Jedrzejczyk] said she would fight at 125, not at 115, and that would be even better for me because I feel great in this division as well,” Andrade said. “I wouldn’t be too affected by the weight loss or any of that. I think we would put on a show and do an incredible fight, and I would get that one back.”
