Jessica Andrade not impressed with UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Pena: “I really think it’s easier to fight Julianna than the girls at 125 and 115”

Jessica Andrade believes she’d have a good chance to capture the UFC bantamweight title if she went up against Julianna Pena.

With three wins in her last four bouts, all of which came via finish, Jessica Andrade is beginning to rebuild some of the momentum she lost from dropping title fight defeats to Zhang Weili and Valentina Shevchenko.

Nobody really knows what direction she’s going to head in next and while she may have returned to strawweight to take on Amanda Lemos, it would appear as if she’s open to any weight class – including a long-awaited return to bantamweight.

If she heads back up to 135, a collision with reigning champion Julianna Pena could well be on the cards – as per the Brazilian herself.

“In theory, it’s easier to fight Julianna, especially for what she’s showed against Amanda,” Andrade said. “I really think it was more of Amanda [losing than Peña winning], because Amanda is way better than what she’s showed. She was submitted with no hooks in, you could see the pressure wasn’t too much. But I don’t know how Amanda’s weight cut was — it was two years since her last fight [at bantamweight], so something might have affected and led to that. She got tired so quickly. It wasn’t the Amanda we’re used to watching. Maybe she will show the Amanda we know in this rematch and get the belt back.

“If that doesn’t happen, I really think it’s easier to fight Julianna than the girls at 125 and 115. I hope we get the opportunity to fight one day and it’s for the belt. I think it’s the easier matchup, no doubt. We’re used to fighting girls at 125 and 115, who are faster and have power in their strikes, and people at 135 are slower, I think due to their weight and how they move. So if you get them tired, it’s over. I get better round after round, I don’t get tired, I don’t slow down, and that would be a good key for me to beat Julianna and maybe win the 135-pound belt.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

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