Jessica Andrade was compared to Cris Cyborg in her three-round destruction over Roxi Sexton in 2013, but she wants to prove she has much more than an aggressive striking game in her arsenal.
Andrade takes on TUF veteran Raquel Pennington in the preliminary portion of UFC 171 on Saturday night in Dallas, Texas, and her strategy is no secret.
“I had a great training camp and I’m ready to show the fans a Jessica they don’t know yet,” Andrade told MMAFighting.com. “I’ll do more ground game this time, working on the ground and pound and takedowns, but my striking will be the same. But if I can’t take her down, I’ll stand and brawl.”
The Brazilian is 10-3 in MMA with five submissions victories, being four via guillotine choke.
“I want to finish the fight with a guillotine choke,” she said. “I trained it a lot, focused on it, and I hope I don’t let it go the distance. I want to finish her by submission or knockout, but a submission would be cool.”
Initially expected to face off against The Ultimate Fighter season 18 winner Julianna Pena at UFC 171, Andrade was frustrated when the UFC informed her that Pena was out with a knee injury.
“I was a little frustrated, yes,” she said. “But injuries happen in MMA and I was ready for anyone. I had one month to change my training and strategy, and I’m ready.
“I made history already by being the first Brazilian woman in the UFC, and then I set the record of (second) most significant strikes landed in a UFC fight. Now I’ll try to do the fight of the night, and I will.”
Currently ranked in the top 10 in the UFC, Andrade expects to fight for the bantamweight championship in 2014, but she knows she still has work to do to get there.
“I would love to have an opportunity for the title next, but I think it’s too soon,” she said. “I believe I need two or three more wins to be better ranked in the UFC so they give me a shot. I hope I can fight for the title by the end of the year.”