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Jessica Andrade is pretty happy with her new Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contract.

It was revealed during UFC 284 this past weekend (Feb. 11, 2023) that the former Strawweight champion was stepping in for a short-notice main event spot at UFC Vegas 69 against rising Flyweight star, Erin Blanchfield, this weekend (Sat., Feb. 18, 2023). Andrade recently left her longtime management team at On The Road Management for Dominance MMA and negotiated a new deal ahead of the bout that sees her sitting comfortably in the financial department.

“It was something really good, a great change in my career,” Andrade told MMA Fighting. “Now I’ll really be able to make my nest egg and plan my life. Maybe my body won’t be the same in five or six years, so now I’ll be able to change my life and my family’s lives.

“This is work well done from my part, but also my team, to be putting on good fights and always being available when the UFC needs,” she concluded. “This fight has really saved my life in every sense. I’ll even buy my mother a new house.”

The Brazilian has been open about her struggles as an athlete despite being a one-time champion. Most recently, Andrade shared how she shut down her OnlyFans account and never really wanted to open it in the first place. From the sounds of things, she won’t have anything to worry about going forward.

“My last contract had 10 fights, but [my manager] Ali [Abdelaziz] said that was crazy, that it wasn’t a good idea to have a contract with so many fights,” Andrade said. “He said, ‘Let’s do the next contracts with less fights, but with you getting paid more.’”

Andrade last fought in Jan. 2023, scoring a dominant one-sided unanimous decision over one-time Flyweight title challenger, Lauren Murphy.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 69 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 69: “Andrade vs. Blanchfield” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

Jon Jones has his work cut out for him in his Heavyweight debut next month (March 4, 2023) at UFC 285.

The former two-time Light Heavyweight champion will battle for vacant gold in the land of giants, facing Ciryl Gane. France’s “Bon Gamin” is largely considered one of the best strikers in the division, if not the best, making for a tricky welcoming party for Jones.

Knowing a thing or two about great striking, UFC Middleweight champion, Alex Pereira, sees the all-timer, Jones, struggling with someone like Gane more than the former champion, Francis Ngannou.

“I think he’s really coming to dominate,” Alex Pereira told MMA Fighting of Jones. “It’s never easy, but I think this fight will be much harder than if he had fought Ngannou. Ngannou is stronger and would want to trade punches with Jon Jones, and Jon Jones is very experienced, has great defense, so I think Jon Jones would beat Ngannou [easier].

“This next fight [with Gane] is a bit harder for him, but I also think he wins,” he continued. “It’s a bit more difficult because [Gane] is smart, and a bit more scared in a good way, not to come trading with Jon Jones, which makes him a more difficult fight.”

Pereira is a former Glory kickboxing world champion and has utilized his knockout abilities to secure the majority of his mixed martial arts (MMA) victories. For his biggest career win yet, “Poatan” scored a fifth-round technical knockout over Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 in Nov. 2022 (watch highlights). The pair of rivals will run things back once again at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023, in Miami, Florida.

As for the aforementioned Ngannou, “The Predator” has his sights set on entering the boxing ring after departing UFC to kick off 2023.

UFC vets Diego Sanchez, Greg Hardy and Jon Dodson are in bare knuckle action this weekend.

BKFC is hosting their third annual Knucklemania event this Friday in Albuquerque, NM. The card is headlined by a BKFC light heavyweight title unification fight between champion Lorenzo Hunt and interim champ Mike Richman. However, more might be interested in the undercard, which includes a few names that would be very familiar to MMA, and specifically UFC, fans.

Among the former UFC fighters on the card are TUF 1 winner Diego Sanchez, who fights Austin Trout, and Greg Hardy, who takes on Josh Watson.

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How To Watch

This event goes down on Friday, February 17 at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, NM. Tickets are available here.

The prelims will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will air on BKFC’s YouTube channel and the BKFC app.

The main card airs on FITE.tv at 9 p.m. ET. FITE has slashed the price on this on this event, dropping their usual price of $29.99 down to $9.99.

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Live Stream

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Full fight card

Main card (9 p.m. ET on FITE.tv)

• Lorenzo Hunt vs. Mike Richman
• Diego Sanchez vs. Austin Trout
• Will Santiago vs. Noah Cutter
• Jayme Hinshaw vs. Charisa Sigala
• Joshua Moreno vs. Christian Torres
• Chevvy Bridges vs. Kevin Croom
• John Dodson vs. Jarod Grant
• Greg Hardy vs. Josh Watson
• Gaston Reyno vs. D. Van Sickle

Prelims (8 p.m. ET on YouTube/BKFC App)

• Eric Dodson vs. Gene Perez
• Anthony Sanchez vs. Derek Perez

Ever watch a fight between two guys and have it feel like they’re both being dragged through broken glass?

At least as far as the UFC is concerned the top end of the MMA world has been pitching between exhilarating and entirely uninteresting lately. Fortunately, for those times when the world’s largest MMA promotion isn’t bringing their best stuff, we’ll always have the weirdo fringes of combat sports. That’s what we’re serving, and that’s hopefully what you’re hungry for. Now, let’s eat.

We’re starting off with a very familiar face to the WTF combat sports round up. Our guy Jerry at Fight Commentary Breakdowns gives us the goods with one of the most mesmerizing subgenres of martial arts videos: the fake master versus the real fighter.

Now look, you’ve heard this song before. You know how it goes. A guy (always a guy) puts himself through decades of training in some BS martial art, amasses a group of compliant and/or suggestible acolytes and never tastes the blunt force of reality slamming them in the mouth. Until one day, they foolishly accept to test themselves against an actual martial artist that trains with contact and that person… well… slams them in the mouth.

The intro to the fake master is beautiful, he looks like he’s nailed the other guy with one of those handshake buzzer thingies we used to have as kids. I have no idea what kids have now to be evil to each other, but those things absolutely sucked.

The dude goes on to face a legit kickboxer that flattens him with a right hook that doesn’t even look like it landed flush.

There’s more to enjoy, though. There’s a Wing Cun guy taking on a BJJ blue belt, which made me personally feel less bad about my own grappling incompetence. There’s also some Tai Chi guys eating shit against actual resistance from their sparring partners, and a guy that tries to emulate Wuxia acrobatics but ends up kissing a wall. It’s a lovely time to be a martial artist.

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Next up, we’re back in Nigeria, looking at African Warriors Fighting Championships. As usual, the action is simply amazing. This bout has a familiar beat: starts a bit slow, lot of feeling out. But then round 2 comes around and it turns into a firefight with an electrifying finish. Wanna see a dude get planted right on his butt? Watch this:

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We’re gonna give another shout-out to Judo Highlights, who brings us a compilation of the best Ippons from the recent Paris Grand Slam. Lovely technique and jaw-dropping execution.

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This next one was tough to watch. Cyrus Washington takes on Lethwei demigod Tun Tun Min, and it’s some of the most intense action you’ll see all week. Washington was a former Taekwondo standout and earned multiple titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai, and he not only holds his own against a revered Lethwei figure—he takes it to him and brutalizes him. They give each other so much punishment that the grind wears them both down by the end. Be sure to watch the whole thing.

Hey, the thumbnail should be a good indicator of what you’re in for.

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Now, I don’t usually watch talent shows. But this is exceptional. America’s Got Talent had a Taekwondo demonstration team on and it was blazing:

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Finally, a tribute to an underappreciated king. I didn’t know too much about Ken Norton other than his boxing prowess, but this mini-doc is a beautiful paean to a man that had such an interesting background and career. While clearly a fan project, it’s really sharply made and well-written with a full examination of his ascent and later years.

Also, a compilation of some of his best highlights:

That’s it for this week, kids. Remember to be kind and go hard (RIP Keith). And remember – you might think you can fight, but there are many guys like you all over the world.