Brazilian prospect Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade spoiled the hometown return of Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton today at UFC Fight Night 30: “Machida vs Munoz” in Manchester, England. Andrade showcased her striking skills en route to a one-sided Unanimous Decision win on the preliminary card.
Andrade was dominant from start to finish in the bantamweight battle and she battered and bloodied Sexton with hard punches. Sexton showed her resilience and fired back with punches of her own, but she was unable to stop Andrade’s offensive onslaught and the Brazilian earned a big victory.
Andrade (10-3-0) rocked Sexton (13-4-0) early in the fight and she kept the pressure on with punches as Sexton began to bleed from the nose. She caught a kick from Andrade, but could not get her down. Sexton found success with kicks, but Andrade countered with hard punches and a takedown into side control. Sexton returned to her feet and Andrade dropped her with a right hook in the final seconds. She landed a knee that may have illegally struck Sexton in the side of the head just as time expired.
In round two, Andrade hurt Sexton with punches once again, but Sexton regained her footing and she rushed forward with a flurry. Andrade staggered her with punches and a knee. She teed off with more strikes, but Sexton somehow stayed on her feet. Andrade landed a series of punches and body kicks as Sexton stood against the cage, and Sexton finally took her down before the bell.
Sexton tried to take the fight to the mat in round three, but Andrade stuffed it and landed left and right hooks. Sexton scored with two right hands of her own, but Andrade walked through them and unloaded on Sexton with punches and body kicks. She stuffed two takedowns and punished Sexton with more punches until the end of the lopsided fight.
One judge scored the fight 30-27 for Andrade. The remaining two both had it 30-26 for the 22-year-old Brazilian. The bout marked only the second time that Andrade had ever gone the distance in her young MMA career. She has now won eight of her past ten fights.
Winner: Jéssica Andrade by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27) after three rounds. She improves to 10-3-0.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
That fight was brutal. Felt really sorry for Rosi.
On a side note, I hope the UFC goes for a 125 lbs. division to accomodate all the 125 lbers. they got. Cat Zingano and Jessica Eye were two of the biggest 125 lbers., so, the size difference is not hurting them that much.
But Jessica Andrade and Rosi Sexton, who are a lot smaller, will never be able to shine as they potentially could competing against bigger fighters.
I feel Jessica could fight at 120 lbs. easily. She seemed smaller than even Rosi.
I heard a rumor that if Tate loses to Rousey again, UFC might build a flyweight division around Tate. She is the second biggest draw in WMMA and is worth more as a champion than a gatekeeper.
It is tricky though. UFC just can’t start a 125 divsion because many of the 135 fighters would drop down and dilute the 135 division. 115 makes more sense.
Yes the Andrade – Sexton fight was brutal. I don’t know how Rosi made it through to the end. I doubt many of the top 10 135-lb women could have withstood that onslaught. Rosi is mentally extraordinarily tough, but just couldn’t match Jessica’s power. If the UFC cuts Sexton after her magnificent display of courage and heart, I will be very surprised and even more disappointed.
On the other hand, I believe Andrade is improving so quickly that she will very soon be a real threat to everyone in that division, with the possible exception of Rousey, of course.