Jessica Andrade is one step closer to realizing her dream.
“Bate Estaca” will be go one-on-one with Invicta FC strawweight champion Angela Hill. It’ll be Andrade’s third bout in the 115-pound division. The two will share the Octagon tomorrow night (Feb. 4) at an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night event inside the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Speaking with MMAJunkie.com, the Parana Vale Tudo fighter is confident that a win over Hill will put her in a title bout later this year.
“I think that with one more win, I should be able to fight for the belt. Angela Hill is a great fighter. Beating her, I would be on a great three-fight win streak, especially since Angela was the Invicta champion. By winning this next bout, my fight record will be proof enough that I’ve earned my shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.”
Andrade’s manager, Tiago Okamura, said his fighter was offered a title bout with Jedrzejczyk, but she turned it down in favor of one more fight. A solid performance from Andrade may prove her patience paid off. Jedrzejczyk is back in the United States preparing for another camp with American Top Team.
The No. 5 ranked UFC strawweight isn’t shy about her plans if she does meet Jedrzejczyk. She said that she believes with a full camp, she will “destroy Joanna without mercy.”
During her time as a bantamweight under the UFC banner, Andrade had some ups and downs. She went 4-3 in the 135-pound division. A submission loss to Raquel Pennington made Andrade move down to the strawweight class.
For the first time since her days on the regional circuit, Andrade snagged two straight finishes. In her 115-pound debut, she scored a TKO win over Jessica Penne. She followed that performance up with a first-round submission over Joanne Calderwood. Andrade earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus.
