Former UFC world champion Jessica Andrade claims that she’s secretly in conversation with Joanna Jedrzejczyk about the possibility of fighting for a women’s BMF title – a bout that could tempt the legendary athlete out of retirement.
The iconic former champion was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame earlier this year and if the secret conversations between her and Jessica Andrade are to be believed, there could be one more title fight in the offing.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesJessica Andrade claims she’s negotiating BMF title fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Ahead of her own return to action at UFC Vegas 97 this weekend, it appears that Jessica Andrade is playing matchmaker for one of the most iconic female fighters in the history of the promotion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Speaking earlier this week to MMA Fighting, the former strawweight queen teased that Jedrzejczyk is in fact willing to end her retirement and return to the UFC if there was a silver-plated BMF title on the line.
“I’ve been talking to Joanna [Jedrzejczyk] and she said she’d come back [as long as] if it’s for this [BMF] belt, she would come back.”
“I think that would be a good fight. Joanna, or maybe Angela Hill, who never walks away from a fight and is always there fighting everyone. Or Valentina [Shevchenko]. Any of those girls would be great, but I think it would be special if it’s Joanna – it would be better.”
According to Andrade, Jedrzejczyk has stated that should she make her return to action, it’ll be up at flyweight and not at strawweight where she held her title between 2015 and 2017.
“[Jedrzejczyk] said she would fight at 125, not at 115, and that would be even better for me because I feel great in this division as well; I wouldn’t be too affected by the weight loss or any of that.”
The pair first clashed for the strawweight title back in 2017, a fight which the Polish warrior won via a unanimous decision – and a result that the Brazilian brawler would love to see rectified.
“I think we would put on a show and do an incredible fight, and I would get that one back.”
Andrade returns to action this weekend at UFC Vegas 97 against Natalia Silva
If that inaugural women’s BMF title fight is to be put together, Andrade must first get through this weekend’s flyweight fight against Natalia Silva – certainly no easy task.
Silva currently sits as the #8 ranked flyweight in the world and has gone 5-0 in the UFC since signing to the promotion in 2022; three wins via decision, including UD wins over Viviane Araujo and Andrea Lee in her last two bouts, and two knockouts to boot.
Meanwhile, Andrade has bounced back from three consecutive losses with two impressive wins of her own; a second-round knockout of Mackenzie Dern followed by a split decision over Marina Rodriguez at UFC 300.
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At the time of writing, Andrade is a heavy underdog against the favorite, although ‘Bate Estaca’ will take some level of comfort in knowing that despite Silva being on an 11-fight winning streak, the last woman to beat Silva was indeed Marina Rodriguez.
Silva vs Andrade is set for the co-main event of UFC Vegas 97, scheduled to go down on Saturday, September 7 live from The Apex in Las Vegas.
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