J. Andrade (photo) that J. Jędrzejczyk must do to deserve a chance at the title. Photo: Reproduction/YouTube UFC
The Brazilian Jessica Andrade minimized the chances of having Joanna jedrzejczyk as her opponent in her first defense of the strawweight belt (up to 52,1kg.). In an interview with the website 'MMA Fighting', the woman from Paraná stated that the former champion must win a few fights before qualifying for the division title. Jéssica began her reign in the category after beating the North American Rose namajunas No. UFC 237, in Rio de Janeiro.
See too
“Everyone is waiting for me to face Joanna, but she has to work and earn a new opportunity to fight for the belt. When I faced her and lost, I had to win three fights against highly ranked fighters to get a new chance”, said Jéssica.
The athletes faced each other in May 2017, at UFC 211. At the time, 'Bate-Estaca' was unable to impose her strategy against the then unbeatable Joanna. After five rounds, the Polish woman was declared the winner of the fight in a unanimous decision by the judges.
With the defeat, Andrade had to go through three major challenges before he could fight for the title again. Still in 2017, the Brazilian defeated her compatriot Claudia Gadelha and, in 2018, it won the North American Tecia torres, in addition to the Polish Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
“To face me, she has to do the same. She has to win some fights, face well-ranked opponents and, if she wins, she can face me”, said Andrade.
Joanna is currently in fourth place in the straw rankings. The last time she played in the division, however, was almost a year ago, when she defeated Tecia torres at UFC Calgary. The Polish, however, ventured into the flyweight category (up to 56,7kg.) to try to win the belt against Valentina Shevchenko, in December last year, at UFC 231. The athlete, however, was defeated in a unanimous decision by the judges.
Jéssica, finally, reported which opponents could cross her path in her first title defense.
“I believe that the next one in line will be the winner between Nina (Ansaroff) and Tatiana (Suarez), or Michelle Waterson (seventh in the ranking). I will wait. When the UFC calls me, I’ll be ready”, concluded the champion.
'Bate-Estaca''s desire, however, was to allow an immediate rematch to Rose namajunas, former holder of the title. The former champion, however, shortly after the UFC 237, revealed that he intends to take a break from his career and, at that moment, he did not want the chance to regain his belt.
Jessica's fate, therefore, is to wait for an official announcement from Ultimate to confirm her next opponent in the organization.
Comments