Jessica Andrade Set for Strawweight Return Against Amanda Lemos Atop April 23 UFC Card

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight champ Jessica Andrade is moving back to her old stomping grounds of 115 pounds.

Last Friday, the news first broke from MMA Fighting, who reported that Andrade (22-9) will be dropping back down to strawweight at an unnamed UFC Fight Night card on April 23. At this event that may be held in the UFC Apex, contingent on the status of the coronavirus pandemic, Andrade will be facing Amanda Lemos (11-1) in a battle between hard-hitting Brazilians. The two women will be competing over the course of five rounds as the main event, and the news has since been confirmed on Thursday by Lemos on her Instagram page.

Andrade shifted gears to the flyweight division after dropping two to Weili Zhang and Rose Namajunas. In her 125-pound debut, she handed Katlyn Chookagian her second career stoppage loss, putting her away with a series of punches to the body. The victory earned “Bate Estaca” a title shot against Valentina Shevchenko, but she was rebuffed in two rounds by the champ. She bounced back from that setback with a first-round knockout of Cynthia Calvillo in September 2021, with a triumph that made her the first woman to stop Calvillo with strikes.

Since losing in her UFC debut at bantamweight to Leslie Smith in 2017, Lemos has not been beaten. The defeat prompted a drop down to the strawweight ranks, where she met Miranda Granger in 2019 and put her to sleep with a rear-naked choke. Subsequent wins over Mizuki Inoue, Livinha Souza, Montserrat Ruiz and Angela Hill put her in this exciting style matchup of power vs. power. As a pro, “Amandinha” has earned stoppages in nine of her 11 victories.

Andrade-Lemos will serve as the headliner of the UFC Fight Night card on April 23, and there is currently no location set for the show, but it may go on inside the UFC Apex if no additional domestic locations are in play. Other matchups on the event include a newly announced heavyweight rumble between Tanner Boser and Rodrigo Nascimento, a lightweight tilt between Clay Guida and Claudio Puelles as well as a welterweight grudge match between Mike Jackson and Dean Barry.