Rivalries: Jessica Andrade

Jessica Andrade would like nothing more than to turn back the clock.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight titleholder will return to familiar haunts at 115 pounds when she collides with Amanda Lemos in the UFC Fight Night 205 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Andrade owns a 13-7 record across 20 appearances inside the Octagon. She last competed at UFC 266, where she put away Cynthia Calvillo with punches in the first round of their Sept. 25 pairing.

As Andrade approaches her confrontation with Lemos, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape her career to this point:

Raquel Pennington

Aggressive and sustained striking flurries spurred Andrade to a split decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 18 semifinalist in a UFC 171 women’s bantamweight prelim on March 15, 2014 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Dan Mathisen for Pennington, Aladin Martinez and Troy Wincapaw for Andrade. Pennington spent almost the entire fight in reverse. Andrade scored with a pair of first-round throws and marched forward with punches, walking through counters from her opponent. Pennington threatened with a standing guillotine choke in the second round but did her best work in the third. There, she delivered a pair of takedowns, tuned up some hammerfist-laden ground-and-pound and swarmed with punches after Andrade stood. However, it was not enough to turn the tide fully in her favor. Pennington avenged the loss a little more than a year later, as she submitted “Bate Estaca” with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC 191 rematch and evened their head-to-head series at 1-1.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

The Polish muay Thai machine pitched another mesmerizing shutout when she retained the undisputed women’s strawweight championship with a clear-cut unanimous decision over Andrade in the UFC 211 co-main event on May 13, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Jedrzejczyk swept the scorecards with 50-45, 50-44 and 50-45 marks from the judges. Andrade had the will but not the means with which to dethrone the champion. Jedrzejczyk developed a hematoma on her forehead in the first round but made certain virtually everything else went her way. She utilized a punishing jab, attacked the challenger’s base with kicks to the lower leg and mixed in blinding punching combinations to the body and head, drawing her further down the rabbit hole with each passing minute. Even when Andrade closed the distance and clinched with the American Top Team superstar, she was met with knees to the body and short standing elbows. The outcome was never in doubt.

Claudia Gadelha

Andrade leaned on pinpoint striking and ferocious ground-and-pound when she claimed a unanimous decision over the Andre Pederneiras protégé in the UFC Fight Night 117 co-headliner on Sept. 22, 2017 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Scores were 30-25, 30-26 and 30-27. Gadelha looked like the superior fighter through the first three minutes. She ripped into Andrade with three-, four- and five-punch combinations and connected with a series of standing elbows, one of which opened a cut on the forehead. Late in the round, she ragdoll slammed Gadelha to the canvas, extracted herself from an attempted guillotine and found another gear with her ground-and-pound, drawing blood with a well-placed elbow strike near the left eye. From there, it was all Andrade. She battered Gadelha with punches, executed takedowns, sprawled into top position and smashed the three-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion with punches, hammerfists, elbows and knees to the body. By the time the second round was over, it was clear Gadelha was on fumes and the fight was essentially done.

Rose Namajunas

Andrade captured the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight title with a slam knockout of “Thug Rose” in the UFC 237 main event on May 11, 2019 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Namajunas surrendered her grip on the 115-pound throne 2:58 into Round 2 before a ravenous crowd of 15,193. She floored Andrade with a first-round knee strike, fed her an unhealthy diet of jabs, utilized superior footwork and generally outstruck the Parana Vale Tudo standout across seven-plus minutes of a thrilling encounter. The tide shifted in Round 2 and did so dramatically. Andrade bullied the champion to the fence, executed a high-crotch lift—a maneuver she had attempted on two prior occasions—and slammed her headfirst into the canvas. The impact separated the Milwaukee native from her faculties and made Andrade the UFC’s fourth strawweight champion. Namajunas exacted a measure of revenge 14 months later, as she eked out a split decision over the Brazilian in their three-round rematch at UFC 251.

Weili Zhang

The Black Tiger Fight Club representative became the first Chinese mixed martial artist to strike Ultimate Fighting Championship gold when she put away Andrade with punches, elbows and knees to capture the undisputed women’s strawweight crown in the UFC Fight Night 157 main event on Aug. 31, 2019 at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China. It was over in just 42 seconds. Zhang turned the Brazilian’s overzealousness against her, answering her aggression with overwhelming speed, precision and power. She connected with 29 significant strikes: 16 to the head, seven to the body and six to the legs. Zhang clipped the oncoming Andrade with a crisp right hand, welcomed her into the clinch and assaulted her with standing elbows before unleashing a torrent of rapid-fire knee strikes. The reeling champion retreated, ate a few more punches and collapsed at the base of the cage.

Valentina Shevchenko

“Bullet” retained the women’s flyweight championship and did so emphatically when she buried Andrade with a volley of elbows in the second round of their UFC 261 co-feature on April 24, 2021 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Shevchenko brought it to a close 3:19 into Round 2. The 125-pound boss set the tone with a dominant first round, where she executed five takedowns, assaulted Andrade with ground-and-pound and piled up nearly three minutes of control time. Shevchenko took down the Brazilian powerhouse twice more in the second, progressed to side control and eventually moved to a mounted crucifix. By then, the outcome was academic. Shevchenko administered punches, then cut loose with a burst of elbows that drew blood and prompted the stoppage.