Tell Jessica Andrade the weight, and she’ll show up.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) revealed today (Weds., June 15, 2022) that top-ranked Flyweight contender, Katlyn Chookagian, has been injured out of her upcoming clash with France’s Manon Fiorot at UFC Paris on Sept. 3, 2022. Stepping in to replace “Blonde Fighter” is expected to be the former Strawweight champion, Andrade. MMA Junkie has since reported that the bout isn’t officially signed but verbal agreements are in place.
For Brazil’s Andrade, fighting on enemy soil is nothing new. In her first title defense, “Bate Estaca” ventured to Shenzhen, China, to take on Zhang Weili in Aug. 2019. Unfortunately for her, the fight didn’t go Andrade’s way (watch highlights), but she’s since made real strides in all of her victories since then.
Majorly competing at 115-pounds since June 2016, Andrade made the move up to Flyweight following her July 2020 rematch with Rose Namajunas. Losing a split decision to her fellow former champion, Andrade went on to debut at 125-pounds against the aforementioned Chookagian, finishing her in round one via technical knockout (watch highlights). Andrade came up short challenging for the title against Valentina Shevchenko after that before thrashing Cynthia Calvillo to get another first-round finish via strikes. She most recently returned to Strawweight in April 2022, dispatching of rising contender, Amanda Lemos, with a first-round standing arm-triangle choke submission (watch highlights).
Meanwhile, Fiorot has been establishing herself as one of the future staples atop the Flyweight ranks with a strong nine-fight win streak, four of those coming inside the Octagon. Fiorot scored her biggest career victory yet in her last time out in March 2022 against former Invicta Fighting Championship titlist, Jennifer Maia, via unanimous decision.