Jessica Andrade will look to continue her run of victories when she faces Erin Blanchfield in the women’s flyweight main event of a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Andrade (24-9) is a former strawweight champion and has racked up three straight wins since losing to flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in a title fight in 2021, defeating Cynthia Calvillo, Amanda Lemos and Lauren Murphy (the last as recently as UFC 283 in January of this year).
She replaced fellow Brazilian Taila Santos, who was forced to withdraw just a week out from this event, and will be looking to build toward a second title shot at Shevchenko or possibly Weili Zhang in the strawweight category.
“I want to go back to my division. Of course, there’s (flyweight champion) Valentina (Shevchenko), but I really want another chance to fight (strawweight champ) Weili Zhang. I think with a victory (against Blanchfield), that could happen,” said the 31-year-old.
Blanchfield (10-1) is a rising star in the division and raised eyebrows when she submitted Molly McCann in the first round of their match at UFC 281 in November last year – a seventh straight win for the 23-year-old from New Jersey.
‘Cold Blooded’ believes she is just meeting her own expectations as she rises up the rankings: “Everyone was like, ‘You’re the breakout fighter of the year’,” she explained.
“I see it differently because, obviously, it’s me, so I expect that out of myself. Obviously, other people, they're not me, so they don't know. But it's like, I know what I could do. It wasn't a surprise at all.”
The rest of the main card sees Jordan Wright take on Zac Pauga in a light heavyweight co-main; Josh Parisian takes on Jamal Pogues in the heavyweight division; another light heavyweight clash features William Knight and Marcin Prachnio; and the opener is a heavyweight match pitting Jim Miller against Alexander Hernandez.
UFC Fight Night: Santos v Blanchfield – main card
- Main event: Women’s flyweight: Jessica Andrade v Erin Blanchfield
- Light heavyweight: Jordan Wright v Zac Pauga
- Heavyweight: Josh Parisian v Jamal Pogues
- Light heavyweight: William Knight v Marcin Prachnio
- Lightweight: Jim Miller v Alexander Hernandez
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