Jessica Andrade explains flyweight return for UFC Vegas 97 fight with Natalia Silva

Jessica Andrade returned to the winning column with back-to-back strawweight victories over Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez to put herself back in the mix for a future title shot, but decided to go back up to flyweight for a clash with rising prospect Natalia Silva this Saturday night at UFC Vegas 97.

“Bate Estaca”, won won gold at 115 pounds back in 2019, said life is better competing at 125 pounds with an easier weight cut, but that’s not the main reason why she decided to fight at that weight class.

“My manager said I could wait for a fight at 115 but they would probably remove me from the 125 ranking,” Andrade said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I want it all, so I asked for a fight at 125 [laughs] and they ended up offering me Natalia. It’s a great fight, a super tough girl, and I’m sure it’s going to be a great fight for the fans because we will stand and trade.”

Andrade said she originally agreed to face Silva for an August date, but it didn’t come to fruition. The UFC then approached her with the idea of battling Iasmin Lucindo, but making strawweight on such short notice wouldn’t be viable. The promotion ultimately revisited the original Silva idea for Sept. 7 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

“Natalia is very fast with her kicks and has this taekwondo background,” Andrade said. “Of all the women I’ve fought in the UFC so far, no one is a specialist in this martial art as she is, so it’s going to be something new to me. But the reason why I took this fight was to save my spot in the 125 rankings.”

Andrade’s teammate Jessica Delboni is a former Invicta FC strawweight champion and black belt in taekwondo, so “Bate Estaca” said it was easy to prepare to that style.

“I feel great and ready to whatever Natalia has to offer me inside the octagon,” Andrade said. “I’m learning new tricks and adapting well. I’m very happy, and every time I’m happy going into a fight, it goes my way. You’ll see a whole new Jessica, more focused and ready to do the right things. I won’t do anything crazy. I’ll stay focused, and I’m ready to land the right blows that will knock her out.”

Andrade snapped a three-fight skid with a stoppage over Dern in November of 2023 and followed it up with a split decision over Rodriguez in this past April. A win Saturday slows down the hype of Silva, and Andrade feels could lead to a title shot at one of the two weight classes — or even the BMF belt.

Silva is 5-0 in the UFC with impressive performances, but Andrade is about to enter the octagon for an unprecedented 28th time, with a record of 17-10 in the promotion that includes wins over talents like Rose Namajunas, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Amanda Lemos and Katlyn Cerminara.

“I think that the fact that I have fought so many different girls of so many different fighting styles brings me a bit more of confidence, but every fight is different,” Andrade said. “I can go in there and she lands me one kick that gets me thinking, ‘Dear God, I’m f*cked, I have to switch strategies now.’ Or I can land one hand and look at her face and see the fight going my way.

“Every fight it unique, but the experience I have inside the octagon, 28 fights in the UFC, makes me more confident and calm to know that it won’t be such a big of a deal. All these years of fighting experience makes me mature enough to enter the octagon knowing what I have to do when it’s time to fight.”

Andrade said she has taken a few pages off of Viviane Araujo’s gameplan to prepare her own strategy for the fellow Brazilian. Araujo lost a decision to Silva this past February, but “Bate Estaca” believes it was enough to show holes in her game.

“I think Viviane did a great strategy of backing her up the entire time,” Andrade said, “but Viviane was taking too long to fire, which gave Natalia room to feel comfortable and respond even with her back against the cage. I’m very aggressive and I’m always connecting heavy hands, so I’ll follow that path and give her no espace to throw those kicks.

“If I see room for takedowns during the fight, I know my arsenal is one of a kind. When I put them on their back, there’s nowhere to run. I’ll do some of Viviane’s strategy to beat Natalia, but being aggressive as I always am to give Natalia no space to move around and connect.”