Brazilian rising star Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade looks to take another step towards UFC title contention when she returns to the cage at UFC Fight Night 51: “Bigfoot vs Arlovski” on September 13th in Brasilia, Brazil. Andrade battles French Canadian striker Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau.
UFC officials announced the featured bantamweight bout today. Andrade is coming off of a pair of impressive wins inside the Octagon and she now aims to make it three in a row in front of Brazilian supporters. Létourneau made a successful short-notice UFC debut against Elizabeth Phillips on June 14th.
Andrade (11-3-0) announced her presence as a future star this past year when she travelled to Russia and upset hometown favourite Milana Dudieva at ProFC 47. The submission win earned Andrade a spot on the UFC roster. While her debut at UFC on FOX 8 ultimately ended in defeat, Andrade put on a strong showing against former title challenger Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche. She has since bounced back with key victories over Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton and TUF 18 semi-finalist Raquel “Rocky” Pennington. Andrade now competes at home in Brazil for the first time since January 2013.
Létourneau (6-3-0) hoped to enter the UFC by winning The Ultimate Fighter 18, but her brief time on the reality show came to an end when she was submitted by Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi in the elimination round. Following the defeat, Létourneau remained on the sidelines until this May when she easily dispatched of an overmatched Jordan Moore at Absolute Fighting Championship 21. She then stepped in on very short notice to make her UFC debut against fellow late replacement Phillips at UFC 174 and walked away with a well-deserved Split Decision win.
UFC Fight Night 51: “Bigfoot vs Arlovski” takes place on September 13th at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil. The event is headlined by a heavyweight rematch between Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski.
(Photo Credit: UFC)