Jessica Andrade believes she is fighting the pound-for-pound best female on Saturday night in Valentina Shevchenko.
In the first of thee title fights at UFC 261, Andrade is set to face Shevchenko in an interesting matchup. Since the flyweight division opened, Shevchenko has dominated everyone.
However, she lost to Amanda Nunes at bantamweight, but according to Andrade, the flyweight champ is the pound-for-pound best as she believes Shevchenko should’ve won.
“Valentina is the best in the UFC,” Andrade said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I’ve always wanted to fight her because I always want to fight the best. I’ve fought a lot of good girls and I think Valentina is one level above any other. Actually, her fight with Amanda [Nunes], I’m one of those that think [judges] could have given it to Valentina because she was better.”
Andrade is not alone in thinking Shevchenko beat Nunes in the rematch. However, since the fight, both of them have dominated and the Brazilian even became a champ-champ.
According to Andrade, she also thinks the fact Shevchenko fights often and puts on exciting fights also puts her at the top of the pound-for-pound list.
“Even though Amanda has two belts, Valentina fights all the time and always puts on great fights and the same pace from start to finish,” Andrade said. “Amanda doesn’t fight that often. She owns two belts but doesn’t fight all the time, so I think Valentina has more experience in the Octagon. I think Valentina is the best pound-for-pound in the UFC.”
Jessica Andrade enters her title fight coming off a first-round TKO win over Katlyn Chookagian in her flyweight debut. The Brazilian is also the former strawweight champ and has legitimate KO power which makes the fight against Shevchenko interesting.
Do you agree with Jessica Andrade that Valentina Shevchenko is the pound-for-pound best?
