Jessica Andrade - Former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion

Jessica Andrade was born in Umuarama, Parana, Brazil, on September 25, 1991. Andrade started martial arts in her teenage years. She holds the sixth rank in the Ultimate Fighting Champion in the strawweight division and is the only woman to have won fights in three different weight classes in UFC history. She received the Fight of the Night award four times. Andrade is also a BJJ black belt under Gilliard Parana.

Andrade is the daughter of Julio and Neusa Andrade. Andrade is a Brazilian national through her great-grandmother. During her childhood, Andrade and her older brother worked on their parents’ farm until the farm was nationalized. At the age of 14, Andrade took different jobs, including delivering medicine for a drug store.

Andrade wanted to be a professional soccer player, so while growing up, she spent most of her time playing soccer. Andrade achieved her dream of becoming successful in soccer and received an offer to play for a Sao Paulo club. However, her parents refused to allow her to go.

In 2011, Andrade was introduced to jiu-jitsu through judo, which she practiced during school.

Andrade began her martial arts training at Gracie Humaita in Umuarama and trained there for her first six professional fights. Afterward, she moved to Niteroi to train at Parana Vale Tudo.

Andrade paved her way to success after winning eight of her first ten fights in Brazil. She competed outside Brazil for the first time in 2013 and won the tournament. Since then, Andrade has been competing at various international levels and has made a successful career in MMA.

Andrade was nicknamed “Bate Estaca”  by her teammates, a Brazilian term used for body slams. She earned this nickname after her first BJJ competition, where she panicked and performed an illegal move on her opponent by lifting and slamming her head directly into the mat. However, she was immediately disqualified after this action.

Andrade married her girlfriend Fernanda in 2019. Unfortunately, they got divorced in 2023. In 2019, an unfortunate event occurred in the couple's lives in Brazil, where they were robbed at gunpoint, and their car and phones were stolen. 

On September 6, 2011, Andrade made her first professional MMA debut while training at Gracie Humaita.

Andrade moved to Niteroi to train at Parana Vale Tudo after being successful in her first six fights.

In 2013, Andrade competed at the international level for the first time at ProFC 47: Russia vs. Europe, where she submitted Milana Dudieva.

Andrade made her first UFC debut on July 23, 2013, against Liz Carmouche at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga after replacing Miesha Tate. Andrade lost the fight in the 2nd round via TKO.

Andrade competed for the second time in the UFC on October 26, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 30 against Rosi Sexton. Andrade won the fight with a dominant unanimous decision.

Andrade competed at UFC 171 against Raquel Pennington and won the back-and-forth fight with a split decision. However, she was scheduled to fight against TUF 18 women’s winner Julianna Pena, but she was pulled out of the bout due to an injury to her right knee.

In September 2014, after signing her new four-fight contract, Andrade was expected to have her first bout against Valerie Letourneau at UFC Fight Night 51. However, Letourneau withdrew after suffering an injury, and Andrade fought with Larissa Pacheco. Andrade won the fight in the first round with a submission.

Andrade competed at UFC Fight Night 61 on February 22, 2015, against Marion Reneau. Andrade lost the fight via a quick submission.

Andrade competed at UFC 191 against Requel Pennington. Andrade lost the fight in the second round via submission.

Andrade has been awarded four times with the “Fight of the Night” award.

In October 2015, Andrade decided to move to the strawweight division. In her new weight division, Andrade faced the former title challenger Jessica Penne at UFC 199 on June 4, 2016, and won the one-sided bout in the second round via TKO.

In September 2016, Andrade competed at UFC 203 against Joanne Calderwood. She defeated Calderwood in the first round via submission.

In December 2016, after signing the new eight-fight contract, Andrade was scheduled to compete at UFC 207 with Maryna Moroz. However, Moroz couldn’t compete due to an injury, and Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Angela Hill was considered a replacement. Nevertheless, the fight couldn’t take place for that event due to a rule in the UFC’s anti-doping policy with USADA. Consequently, Andrade was withdrawn from that competition, but the pairing remained the same for the rescheduled bout, which took place on February 4, 2017, at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie. Andrade won the competition by unanimous decision. 

After losing two consecutive fights in the strawweight division, Andrade began competing in the flyweight division. After winning her first flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie, Andrade became the first woman in UFC history to win in three different weight divisions: bantamweight, flyweight, and strawweight.

 In April 2022, Andrade competed again in the strawweight at UFC Fight Night 205. She defeated Amanda Lemos in the first round with a standing arm-triangle choke, making history in the UFC as she was the first woman to perform this submission. She was given Performance of the Night after this win.

Andrade is scheduled to fight against Mackenzie Dern on November 11, 2023.

In September 2014,  Jessica Andrade competed with Larissa Pacheco at the UFC Fight Night. At the beginning of the fight, Andrade took down Pacheco and started punching her. Pacheco tried to escape the takedown, but Andrade maintained her dominant position and applied pressure. At last, Andrade won the fight by submitting Pacheco with the guillotine choke.

Andrade competed with Rose Namajunas at UFC 237 in the strawweight division. Andrade executed an exceptional kimura technique and took Namajunas down, transitioning straight into an armbar. But Namajunas escaped the position. After two minutes into the match, Andrade won the fight with a slam knockout and earned the Fight of the Night award.

Andrade faced Claudia Gadelha at UFC Fight Night: Saint Preux vs. Okami in the strawweight division. At the beginning of the fight, Gadelha started landing punches on Andrade, delivering fierce punches to her  head, which caused her to bleed. However, Andrade quickly recovered and retaliated with a strong attack. She executed a take down and began punching Gadelha’s head and body. In the end, Andrade won the fight by decision.    

• Fight of the Month vs. Claudia Gadelha September 2017
• Fight of the Month vs. Rose Namajunas May 2019
• 2020 July Fight of the Month vs. Rose Namajunas
• Submission of the Month vs. Amanda Lemos April 2022

• UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion
• Five Times Performance of the Night
• Most Performance of the Night bonuses in the UFC Women’s history
• Four Times Fight of the Night
• Second most wins record in UFC Women’s History after Amanda Nunes
• Most bouts in the UFC Women's history
• 2nd most finishes in the UFC Women’s history
• Most Finishes in history of the Strawweight Division of UFC
• Most knockouts in the UFC Women’s Strawweight history
• 4th most takedowns done in the history of UFC Women’s Strawweight division.
• The sixth most significant strike happened in the UFC Women’s Strawweight division history
• The Only woman to fight in three weight divisions in UFC history
• First standing arm-triangle choke submission in UFC history
• 2022 Submission of the Year

• 2022 Submission of the Year vs. Amanda Lemos

Jessica Andrade vs Claudia Gadelha

Jessica Andrade vs Larissa Pacheco UFC Fight Night

Photo Credit: @jessicammapro