Jessica Andrade captured the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight strap from Rose Namajunas with a violent knockout victory at the UFC 237 pay-per-view (PPV) event last weekend in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Watch the highlights here.
Former division titleholder, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, sent her congratulations to “Bate Estaca” on social media, but the backhanded compliment included a photo of the UFC 211 co-main event, where Jedrzejczyk captured a five-round unanimous decision win over the Brazilian.
Have a look:
At one point, Jedrzejczyk was thought to be invincible at 115 pounds. Then she got knocked out by Namajunas at UFC 217, before falling to “Thug Rose” via unanimous decision in their UFC 223 rematch. A rebound win over Tecia Torres was enough to earn Jedrzejczyk a shot at the flyweight title, but Valentina Shevchenko sent her back to strawweight empty handed.
Where she’ll now have to get through Weili Zhang if she hopes to secure another crack at the crown.
Zhang (17-1) may not be a household name just yet, but she’s won 19 straight fights with 16 finishes and already has a perfect 3-0 record inside the Octagon. Whether or not the promotion pairs the No. 6 “Magnum” against the No. 2-ranked Jedrzejczyk (15-3) remains to be seen, but everyone else in the Top 5 outside of Namajunas is already booked.
What say you?