Jessica Andrade is set for her first strawweight title defense when she takes on Weili Zhang in the main event of UFC Shenzhen.
Although Zhang is her opponent, she has heard a lot of trash-talking from Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha, which she doesn’t care about. Instead, she says it is just because they are jealous of her.
“I’m already used to having (Gadelha) and Joanna talking a bunch of stuff, but it’s jealousy because I won the belt and they haven’t,” Andrade said during a media day in Brazil (via MMA Fighting). “They want attention and I won’t give them any attention. They have to fight and show who deserves to fight for the belt. I had to fight three times and earn the opportunity to fight for the belt again, so they have to do the same.
“Claudia Gadelha had so many opportunities to win the belt against Joanna, I had one—and I believe that down the line, with Joanna winning, we’ll have a rematch. That Jessica from two, three years ago is not the same anymore. I believe I’ll keep this belt for a long time.”
For now, Jessica Andrade says she is just focusing on her fight and knows she will be the queen of the division for a long time. Even though Gadelha says it isn’t fair that she is stronger than most, as she points out, she makes the weight.
“Making weight is what matters, not the strength,” Andrade said with a laugh. “But it’s all good. If she gets more wins like I did to earn another opportunity to fight for the belt, why not? I’d fight her again.”
