Jéssica Andrade

Jéssica Andrade (born September 25, 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist.

Andrade is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she competes in the women's Strawweight and Flyweight divisions and is a former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion.

As of January 23, 2024, she is #4 in the UFC women's strawweight rankings, #5 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings, and #11 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Andrade was born on September 25, 1991, in Umuarama, Paraná, Brazil, to farmer parents Julio and Neusa Andrade.

She is of Native Brazilian descent through her great grandmother.

Andrade and her older brother Fernando worked at their parents' plantation fields throughout their childhood until the farm was municipalized, leading to the prohibition of underage labor.

At the age of 14, she started working at a fish & pay pond and later delivering medicine for a drug store.

Andrade grew up playing soccer and futsal, aspiring to become a professional soccer player.

She succeeded well and eventually got offered to play for a São Paulo club, but her parents forbade her from moving.

During school, Andrade started training judo and shortly afterward, in 2011, jiu-jitsu.

Her teammates coined the nickname bate estaca (piledriver), a term used in Brazil for body slams (also known as Daki age), after one of her first amateur BJJ competitions, when Andrade was caught in an armlock, she panicked and performed the illegal move on her opponent by lifting her and then slamming her head directly into the mat.

To Andrade's surprise, she was immediately disqualified.

Andrade made her professional mixed martial arts debut on September 6, 2011.

For the first six professional fights, Andrade trained at Gracie Humaita in Umuarama, but after beating Duda Yankovich, she moved to Niterói in order to train at Paraná Vale Tudo.

She won eight of her first ten fights in her native Brazil.

On April 14, 2013, Andrade fought outside of Brazil for the first time when she submitted Milana Dudieva at ProFC 47: Russia vs. Europe in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

Andrade made her UFC debut against Liz Carmouche, as a replacement for Miesha Tate, at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga on July 23, 2013.

This marked the first time that two openly gay fighters went head-to-head in the UFC.

Andrade lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Andrade's second UFC appearance took place on October 26, 2013, when she faced Rosi Sexton at UFC Fight Night 30.

She won the fight via dominant unanimous decision.

Andrade was expected to face TUF 18 women's winner Julianna Peña at UFC 171.

However, Peña pulled out of the bout, after suffering an injury to her right knee, and she was replaced by Raquel Pennington.

Andrade won the back-and-forth fight via split decision.

As the first bout of her new four-fight contract, Andrade was expected to face Valérie Létourneau on September 13, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 51.

However, Létourneau withdrew due to an injury and Andrade instead faced UFC newcomer Larissa Pacheco.

She won the fight via submission in the first round.

Andrade faced Marion Reneau on February 22, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 61.

Andrade lost the fight as she was quickly submitted via a triangle choke in the first round.

Andrade faced Sarah Moras on July 15, 2015, at UFC Fight Night: Mir vs. Duffee.

She won the fight by unanimous decision.

Andrade made a quick turnaround, as she replaced an injured Liz Carmouche to take on Raquel Pennington at UFC 191.

She lost the fight by submission in the second round.

In October 2015, Andrade announced her decision to move to the strawweight division.

Andrade then faced former title challenger Jessica Penne at her new weight class on June 4, 2016, at UFC 199, winning the one-sided bout via TKO in the second round.

Andrade next faced Joanne Calderwood on September 10, 2016, at UFC 203.

She won the fight via submission in the first round.

As the first bout of her new eight-fight contract, Andrade was scheduled to face Maryna Moroz at UFC 207 on 30 December 2016.

Nevertheless, Moroz withdrew from the bout citing an injury and Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Angela Hill was briefly linked as a replacement.

However, the fight never materialized for that event because of a rule in the UFC's anti-doping policy with USADA.