Jessica Andrade is the current betting favorite to leave Brazil with the UFC strawweight title at UFC 237. The pay-per-view (PPV) goes down from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 11, 2019. Andrade will challenge for Rose Namajunas’ 115-pound belt. Despite being the betting favorite, Andrade tells MMA Junkie that she is treating this fight as if she’s the underdog:
“Everyone’s saying I’m the favorite, that I have more chances at beating Namajunas because of our styles,” Andrade said.
“Because I have more strength, because I’m able to to get the fight to the fence, to grapple, to get it to the ground and to work the ground and pound. But I’m going in as the underdog. For me, she beat Joanna and I didn’t. So I go in as the person who’s still looking for the win.”
Andrade is on a three-fight win streak at the moment. She earned her title opportunity by knocking out former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 228 in September. Now, she will challenge for the strawweight title for the second time in her career against “Thug”. Namajunas is also on a three-fight win streak heading into Brazil.
Her last two fights have been wins over former division queen Joanna Jędrzejczyk, who Andrade failed to defeat back in May of 2017. More impressively, Namajunas owns a knockout victory over “JJ”. She’ll truly be tested against a strong grappler in the form of Andrade for her second-ever title defense.
What do you think about Andrade considering herself the underdog against Namajunas at UFC 237?
