Jessica Andrade – Syndication Server

Jessica Andrade: Title shot after UFC 300 win is the ‘natural course of things’

Jessica Andrade campaigned for a title shot after UFC 300.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] campaigned for a title shot after UFC 300.

Former champion Andrade (26-12 MMA, 17-10 UFC) notched her second-straight win Saturday when she defeated Marina Rodriguez (17-4-2 MMA, 7-4-2 UFC) by split decision in their strawweight bout at T-Mobile Arena.

Based off of availability and who already had their chance at the title, Andrade explains why she should be next for champion Zhang Weili, who retained her title against Yan Xiaonan in the night’s co-headliner.

“This is the natural course of things,” Andrade told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference. “That’s what Marina said. I think the winner of this fight was the one who should be next for the fight for the title.

“If you think about it, Tatiana (Suarez) is actually injured. Amanda Lemos, not only myself, but also Marina faced her. So I hope to have a shot at the title, and having that shot (at) the end of the year.”

A fresh matchup could be Virna Jandiroba, who’s on a three-fight winning streak, and also close to title contention. However, Andrade would rather not fight her.

“Virna and I are really, really, really good friends,” Andrade said. “I saw her at the (UFC Performance Institute) this week. We were talking about this. Most likely, she’s probably going to face Amanda Lemos next, and I would be fighting for a belt before her.

“Tatiana is injured, so she would face Amanda. I would go with (Weili). We’ve talked, Virna and I, about this, and said if we’re going to face each other, might as well be for a belt.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Everything UFC 300 – Pereira vs. Hill, BMF title fight, Harrison’s debut, more

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses everything UFC 300.

Check out this week’s special edition of “Spinning Back Clique,” where we’ll be breaking down everything UFC 300.

This week’s panel will be composed of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia – along with appearances from Matt Wells, Mike Bohn, Farah Hannoun, Dan Tom, and Nolan King.

For this Monday’s special episode, the panel discussed:

The pair of undisputed UFC championship fights headlining UFC 300. In the main event, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] makes his first light heavyweight title defense against former champion [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag], who returns from injury. In the co-main event, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] takes on fellow Chinese fighter [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] in a women’s strawweight bout.
The first-ever Baddest Motherf*cker title defense, as BMF champion [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] welcomes back [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] to the lightweight division. Other key lightweight bouts go down, including [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag], [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag], [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag].
Highly-touted undefeated middleweight prospect [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s return to action. He takes on Cody Brundage in the opening bout of the pay-per-view main card. This will be Nickal’s third fight under the UFC banner.
Two-time PFL champion and two-time Judo Olympic gold medalist [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] makes her highly awaited UFC debut. She takes on former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] at bantamweight – a division Harrison will be debuting in. Harrison has previously fought at 155 and 145 pounds.
Former UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] has moved up to featherweight. Veteran contender [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] welcomes him to the division.
To cap off the show, the panel will do a quick promo breakdown to hype up the four remaining bouts of the UFC 300 card. This includes [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag], [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag], [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag], and [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag].

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 22-28)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 22-28.

Jessica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez booked for UFC 300

A strawweight matchup pitting ex-champ Jessica Andrade and Marina Rodriguez has been added to UFC 300 in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] has booked her first fight of 2024.

The former UFC strawweight champion is scheduled to take on top contender [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] on April 13 at UFC 300 in Las Vegas. The bout will be contested at 115 pounds.

The UFC announced the matchup Friday afternoon.

This marks Andrade’s first fight bout of the year after a busy 2023 in which she fought five times, going 2-3. She last competed in November at UFC 295 where she stopped Mackenzie Dern in the second round. She won a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for her knockout. Prior to that, Andrade (25-12 MMA, 16-10 UFC) had consecutive losses to Tatiana Suarez, Yan Xiaonan and Erin Blanchfield.

Rodriguez (17-3-2 MMA, 7-3-2 UFC) looks to build off her TKO win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez back in September. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for the Brazilian.

Below is the latest UFC 300 lineup:

Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway
Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan
Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Kayla Harrison vs. Holly Holm
Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt
Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
Cody Brundage vs. Bo Nickal
Diego Lopes vs. Sodiq Yusuff
Jessica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Photos: All-time UFC women’s champions

Take a look at the history of females who have claimed UFC gold.

From the first-ever UFC women’s champion, Ronda Rousey, to the current crop of titleholders, here’s a look at the females who have captured UFC gold since women first step foot in the octagon in 2013.

24 fights on our 2024 MMA wish list: Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones (still), Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3, more

Here’s MMA Junkie’s 24-fight wishlist for the new year.

2023 didn’t disappoint in terms of great MMA action, and 2024 looks just as promising, if not more.

With 2024 underway, there’s a new year of fresh possibilities for dream matchups across the MMA landscape, from the UFC to Bellator, PFL, RIZIN FF, ONE Championship and more.

For 2023, unfortunately, only four of the 23 dream fights MMA Junkie wished for came to fruition. We’re not deterred, however, and are back with another slate of 24 matchups we aspire to see in 2024.

Below, we present MMA Junkie’s wish list of 24 fights we’d like to see in 2024.

The 10 UFC fighters tested most by USADA in 2023

By far, nobody was disrupted by USADA in 2023 more than Paulo Costa. Could it be the flaunting of secret juice?

The UFC’s partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency nears its end, with a scheduled termination as soon as the calendar flips from 2023 to 2024.

In 2023, USADA tested 739 mixed martial artists a combined 4,231 times. While many athletes were randomly tested less than 10 times, some were tested two dozen – and some others, even more. The totals represented 48 more tests and 14 more athletes than in 2022.

With testing data available on USADA’s official website, here are the 12 fighters tested the most from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26, 2023.

Note: There may have been additional data from Dec. 27-31 that has not yet been updated in the USADA database.

UFC in 2023: A ridiculously robust look at the stats, streaks, skids and record-setters

Check out a full recap of 2023’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.

Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producers Michael Carroll, here are some of 2023’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.

UFC 295 ‘Fight Motion’: Five main-card finishes in super-slow mo

With five finishes on the pay-per-view main card, UFC 295 certainly made its case for Event of the Year.

In the main event, former middleweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] became a two-division champion by knocking out Jiri Prochazka to claim the light heavyweight title. And in the co-main event, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] won the interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovic.

[autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag], [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag] and [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] also scored impressive finishes on the Nov. 11 main card at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Check out all the highlights in super-slow motion in the UFC 295 “Fight Motion” video highlights above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

UFC 295 medical suspensions: Jiri Prochazka, Sergei Pavlovich among 19 suspended indefinitely

Nineteen indefinite suspensions were handed out after UFC 295, per the New York State Athletic Commission.

UFC 295 took place Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York and featured 13 fights.

On Monday, MMA Junkie acquired a list of athlete medical suspensions from the New York State Athletic Commission, the sanctioning body that oversaw the event. Most injury specifics were not disclosed.

Nineteen of the 26 combatants were given indefinite suspensions and will need to be cleared by a doctor before they return. That’s a high number of indefinite suspensions compared to the average UFC event, although the NYSAC may have different safety protocols compared to other regulatory bodies. All 26 fighters were also given mandatory suspensions, which vary from seven days to 90 days.

Check out the full list of medical suspensions from UFC 295 below.