Preview: UFC Fight Night 219 ‘Andrade vs. Blanchfield’

With UFC 284 now in the rearview mirror, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will bridge the gap to UFC 285 with essentially a two-bout show. The UFC Fight Night 219 headliner is a good one even after a late switch-up, as Jessica Andrade steps in on about a week’s notice to take on surging flyweight prospect Erin Blanchfield in an excellent present-versus-future showdown. Other than that, the primary fight of interest is the main card opener, which sees Jim Miller make trip No. 41 to the Octagon in an interesting clash with Alexander Hernandez. The rest of the main draw sees the UFC favor size over all else with an assortment of light heavyweight and heavyweight fights. The co-headliner between Jordan Wright and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 30 finalist Zac Pauga should at least provide some fun.

Now to the UFC Fight Night 219 “Andrade vs. Blanchfield” preview:

Women’s Flyweights

#7 P4P | Jessica Andrade (24-9, 15-7 UFC) vs. #10 WFLW | Erin Blanchfield (10-1, 4-0 UFC)

ODDS: Andrade (-165), Blanchfield (+140)

Even considering the hype around her as a prospect, Blanchfield’s rise through the ranks has been quite impressive. Starting her career at 18 years old, Blanchfield flashed a lot of tools on the regional scene, but immediate UFC success was not guaranteed when she was signed at the ripe old age of 20. “Cold Blooded” did not press much of a consistent game on her opponents, and her lone loss to Tracy Cortez raised some concern that she could be neutralized by better athletes. However, those worries went out the window after just two UFC fights. Blanchfield’s frame filled out considerably in the 13-month layoff leading up to her UFC debut, and she bullied former bantamweight Sarah Alpar and fellow top prospect Miranda Maverick, herself one of the UFC’s most physical flyweights. That newfound status as a powerhouse has essentially allowed Blanchfield to find success through brute force, particularly in a win over J.J. Aldrich in June. The technically sound Aldrich stifled the onetime Eddie Bravo Invitational winner’s pressure at a lot of points, but Blanchfield brought enough aggression and consistency to eventually take advantage of an opening and suddenly turn things around with a fight-ending guillotine choke. Even with the impressive start to her UFC career, it was not until UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in November that Blanchfield truly had her breakout performance. She was expected to overpower Molly McCann without much issue, but it was still a bit shocking to see the level of dominance Blanchfield brought to the table, nearly ending the fight multiple times in just three and a half minutes before closing the show with a particularly brutal kimura. Blanchfield still has plenty of rough edges to smooth out, but it is also easy to see why the UFC is a bit impatient in seeing if the New Jersey native can break into the flyweight elite. Initially slated to face recent title challenger Taila Santos, a late-notice change instead earns her a shot at a former strawweight champion in Andrade.

Andrade’s career does not seem to have a clear direction at the moment as she bounces between weight classes, but in the meantime, it is a pleasure watching her bring violence wherever she goes. Andrade came to the UFC as a raw bantamweight prospect with some obvious physical talent, but things only truly popped when she cut down to 115 pounds. Already a powerhouse at 135 pounds, the Brazilian somehow managed to carry all of her power down two weight classes, becoming enough of a wrecking ball to overcome any concerns about her technical depth. Andrade was a title contender within months of debuting in her new weight class, and while she got outmaneuvered in her first title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, she quickly worked her way back to a second against Rose Namajunas. She won in a uniquely Andrade fashion, absorbing a ton of offense before slamming Namajunas directly on top of her head to end the fight. Andrade’s title reign wound up ending as quickly as it began—Weili Zhang knocked her out in just 42 seconds—and within short order, she found herself mounting a campaign at 125 pounds. Things went much the same as they did down at strawweight, with Andrade quickly marking herself as a contender—it is a testament to her physicality that she did not look out of place in a quick knockout win over Katlyn Chookagian—but falling clearly short against the champion, in this case getting outwrestled and easily stopped by Valentina Shevchenko. That left Andrade in a tough spot in the ensuing two years. She is clearly still an elite fighter in both of her weight classes but has suffered one-sided losses to each champion in bouts that did not leave much appetite for a rematch. At any rate, Andrade may yet shake something out through sheer volume and impressiveness of wins, with her last two fights seeing her quickly choke out Amanda Lemos at 115 pounds before battering Lauren Murphy over three rounds in January. Derailing Blanchfield here would only add to that momentum.

Win or lose, this fight does figure to answer plenty of questions about Blanchfield. Being at physical parity alone does not seem to be much of an issue for the American—she did not show much hesitation in taking over her fight against another athlete in Maverick—but Andrade is one of the few opponents that pairs physical strength with the ability to make Blanchfield pay for any mistakes with some knockout power. Thus far, Blanchfield has been willing and able to gut through a war of attrition without much issue, but it is unclear how she will react—if she even holds up—if Andrade can take advantage of that eagerness by cracking her with one or two hard shots. That is a particularly crucial question. Why? If she can hold up physically and mentally, this could be a sneakily advantageous matchup for Blanchfield. She might not be able to match Andrade in terms of sheer horsepower if the two lock horns, but the Brazilian has struggled against the rare opponents with some technical depth to their wrestling—a box that Blanchfield seems to check. Add in Blanchfield’s grappling chops, and it is easy to envision a scenario where she can come out the better in a grind and possibly find her way to Andrade’s back, with the caveat that she will probably have to eat more damage than she ever has in her career to do so. The late opponent change is both a blessing and a curse for Blanchfield, as there is now more of a chance of both a spectacular win or a spectacular loss. She seems hard-nosed enough to be worth the flier. The pick is Blanchfield via second-round submission.

Jump To »
Andrade vs. Blanchfield
Pauga vs. Wright
Pogues vs. Parisian
Knight vs. Prachnio
Hernandez vs. Miller
The Prelims