Jessica Andrade vs Amanda Lemos booked for UFC FN Event in April
It’s been four months since we saw former UFC women’s strawweight champion and No. 1 ranked flyweight contender Jessica Andrade fight, where she picked up a first-round knockout victory over Cynthia Calvillo at UFC 266.
It appears the UFC has found her another opponent, and it couldn’t be more a exciting name!
She will be taking on No. 10 ranked Amanda Lemos at UFC Fight Night 207 on April 23, 2022, at a to-be-determined venue.
Her fellow Brazilian opponent has been on an absolute tear lately since losing to a much more experienced Leslie Smith back in 2017 of her UFC debut. Since then, Lemos has gone 5-0 inside the octagon.
What’s more, she finished three of those opponents, most recently defeating Angela Hill in December.
Prior to that, she’d knocked out Livia Renata Souza (14-2) and Montserrat Ruiz (10-1), dusting them both off in the first round, one at 3:39 and one in just 35 seconds.
Andrade has had some similar success recently, going 2-1 since moving up to 125 lbs, only losing to champion Valentina Shevchenko. Those two victories however, both first round knockouts, one at 4:55 over Katlyn Chookagian and the more recent (over Calvillo) at 4:56 of the round.
It’s rare you see girls consistently knock opponents out, but these two have been doing it for some time.
Andrade had finished all nine of her opponents prior to joining the UFC (four knockouts, five submissions), accumulating a record of 9-2, before making her debut in the 135 lb division.
Seven bouts would follow at bantamweight, seeing her go 4-3 while securing just one finish, via submission. Next she’d drop down to 115 lbs, where she’d TKO former Invicta champion Jessica Penne in the second round.
She’d go 4-1 over her next five, losing a title fight to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but again finishing just one opponent, again via submission. That woman she submitted was Joanne Calderwood, so it’s not like she isn’t facing and beating tough girls.
Next came a bout against former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who Andrade KO’d viciously in just under two minutes, before claiming the UFC title via an even more vicious KO (slam) against current strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.
However, she lost the belt to Weili Zhang in her next outing, before losing a close split decision to Namajunas in the rematch. Since then, as mentioned above, she moved up to the flyweight division and has gone 2-1 with two knockouts.
Lemos on the other hand came over to the worlds leading promotion as an undefeated (6-0-1) Jungle Fight women’s bantamweight champion, securing five knockouts and one submission in those six wins.
After losing her UFC debut to Smith at 135 lbs, she too switched divisions, moving down to 125 lbs.
What’s evident coming into this bout?
Both are former champions, and both are dangerous finishers.
Andrade comes in with a record of 22-9, having finished 16 of those opponents, while Lemos comes in with a record of 11-1-1, having finished nine of her opponents.
Both women have been finished before, and both are knockout artists, though Andrade certainly has more submissions scattered in there.
Lastly, Andrade stands 5’2” with a reach of just 62”, while Lemos stands 5’4” with a reach of 65”, though she has nearly three times the experience, and believe it or not, is the younger party by four years.
How does this one go down?
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