Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight
champ Jessica
Andrade is moving back to her old stomping grounds of 115
pounds. Last Friday, the news first broke from
MMA Fighting, who reported that Andrade (22-9) will be dropping
back down to strawweight at an unnamed
UFC Fight Night card on April 23. At this event that may be
held in the UFC Apex, contingent on the status of the coronavirus
pandemic, Andrade will be facing Amanda
Lemos (11-1) in a battle between hard-hitting Brazilians. The
two women will be competing over the course of five rounds
as the main event, and the news has since been confirmed on
Thursday by Lemos on her Instagram page.
Andrade shifted gears to the flyweight division after dropping two
to Weili Zhang
and Rose
Namajunas. In her 125-pound debut, she handed Katlyn
Chookagian her second career stoppage loss, putting her away
with a series of punches to the body. The victory earned “Bate
Estaca” a title shot against Valentina
Shevchenko, but she was rebuffed in two rounds by the champ.
She bounced back from that setback with a first-round knockout of
Cynthia
Calvillo in September 2021, with a triumph that made her the
first woman to stop Calvillo with strikes.
Since losing in her UFC debut at bantamweight to Leslie
Smith in 2017, Lemos has not been beaten. The defeat prompted a
drop down to the strawweight ranks, where she met Miranda
Granger in 2019 and put her to sleep with a rear-naked choke.
Subsequent wins over Mizuki
Inoue, Livinha
Souza, Montserrat
Ruiz and Angela Hill
put her in this exciting style matchup of power vs. power. As a
pro, “Amandinha” has earned stoppages in nine of her 11
victories.
Andrade-Lemos will serve as the headliner of the UFC Fight Night
card on April 23, and there is currently no location set for the
show, but it may go on inside the UFC Apex if no additional
domestic locations are in play. Other matchups on the event include
a
newly announced heavyweight rumble between Tanner
Boser and Rodrigo
Nascimento, a lightweight tilt between Clay Guida and
Claudio
Puelles as well as a welterweight grudge match between Mike
Jackson and Dean
Barry.
