Jessica Andrade picked up the biggest win of her professional MMA career when she defeated #1 ranked Claudia Gadelha in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night Japan.
The strawweight competitor credits her training in Brazil, plus Gadelha’s lack of training in her home country for the win.
“I hope I do get to go to number one in the rankings, but the big thing here is I believe that I showed the world that with this one I can prove to everybody that you don’t need to leave your hometown, you don’t need to leave your country to become a better fighter,” Andrade said after the event. “Everything that I did, I did in Brazil. I am a Brazilian, I represent Brazil, I train there and I’m going to be a champion for Brazil. I want to be just like ‘Minotauro’ (former PRIDE and UFC heavyweight titleholder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira). He did his whole career in Brazil and he did amazing just staying there and working with what he got. I’m never going to forget my roots and that’s where I’m going to be.”
Andrade became only the second woman to defeat Gadelha in her pro MMA career, the other is current UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Even though she has a lot of pride in her country, the female fighter also credits those she trained with for helping her earn the victory.
“Back home I have a fantastic group of people helping me. I’ve got the PRVT girls, I’ve got girls of all sizes, all skill levels to help me to train and prepare for everything so they have a lot to do with this as well,” says Andrade.
A victorious Andrade also stated she wants to be the #1 ranked female strawweight in the UFC, which she could be when the UFC releases the rankings this Wednesday Night.
