Kemo
01-03-2017, 05:41 AM
Brazilian bruiser Jessica Andrade has made an immediate impact in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) strawweight division. “Bate Estaca” held her own in the women’s bantamweight division going 4-3 while inside the Octagon, but she felt a move down would put her in an elite class.
In her debut at 115 pounds, Andrade earned a TKO victory over Jessica Penne at UFC 199. Her next opponent was Joanne Calderwood. Andrade locked in a guillotine choke in the first round and got the submission victory.
Andrade was scheduled to compete at the final UFC event of 2016, UFC 207. Her original opponent was Maryna Moroz. The Brazilian was left without an opponent when Moroz pulled out due to an injury. Angel Hill stepped in as a late replacement, however per USADA guidelines she had to re-enter the testing pool and the date of the event simply wouldn’t allow that to happen in time.
Ultimately, Andrade was removed from the card.
Her manager Tiago Okamura was a recent guest on MMAJunkie Radio. Okamura claimed the UFC gave Andrade the option of competing for Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s strawweight title. Instead, her team went in a different direction:
“After all the mess, the fight being canceled, they mentioned we could go straight (to the title shot). But honestly, for us it’s not very interesting because we need to make this worth (it), this has to be a proper camp. If we’re doing the title shot, we need to have money. We need to be prepared to invest on that camp because it’s a serious one, and it has to be taken with a different level of investment than a regular camp because we’re not going to go for a title fight just to be there.”
Timing is also to blame for Andrade’s decision to turn down the title opportunity. While she’s ranked no. 5 in the division, Andrade is looking for one more fight before a championship bout.
“They didn’t mention a timeline,” Okamura said. “But we know Joanna has been saying she wants to fight in April, and that will be a little too late. So it would be ideal to do one more fight, make some money and put all that into camp.
In her debut at 115 pounds, Andrade earned a TKO victory over Jessica Penne at UFC 199. Her next opponent was Joanne Calderwood. Andrade locked in a guillotine choke in the first round and got the submission victory.
Andrade was scheduled to compete at the final UFC event of 2016, UFC 207. Her original opponent was Maryna Moroz. The Brazilian was left without an opponent when Moroz pulled out due to an injury. Angel Hill stepped in as a late replacement, however per USADA guidelines she had to re-enter the testing pool and the date of the event simply wouldn’t allow that to happen in time.
Ultimately, Andrade was removed from the card.
Her manager Tiago Okamura was a recent guest on MMAJunkie Radio. Okamura claimed the UFC gave Andrade the option of competing for Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s strawweight title. Instead, her team went in a different direction:
“After all the mess, the fight being canceled, they mentioned we could go straight (to the title shot). But honestly, for us it’s not very interesting because we need to make this worth (it), this has to be a proper camp. If we’re doing the title shot, we need to have money. We need to be prepared to invest on that camp because it’s a serious one, and it has to be taken with a different level of investment than a regular camp because we’re not going to go for a title fight just to be there.”
Timing is also to blame for Andrade’s decision to turn down the title opportunity. While she’s ranked no. 5 in the division, Andrade is looking for one more fight before a championship bout.
“They didn’t mention a timeline,” Okamura said. “But we know Joanna has been saying she wants to fight in April, and that will be a little too late. So it would be ideal to do one more fight, make some money and put all that into camp.