Jessica Andrade Ethnicity: Nationality, Parents, and All About UFC Star’s Background

Former UFC strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade will be taking on Marina Rodriguez at the historic UFC 300 card on April 13! The fight will take place in the early prelims of the event, highlighting the fact that the card is stacked from the top to the bottom as UFC CEO Dana White proclaimed in a recent interview, “UFC 300 is the greatest combat sports card ever assembled.”

The clash between the two Brazilian fighters is set to be a thrilling affair with the number 4 ranked Andrade, who aims to find her way back to contend for the title she once held. As such, let’s take a look and explore what we know about ‘Bate Estaca’s ethnicity, family, and background!

Jessica Andrade is of native Brazilian ethnicity 

Jessica Andrade was born on September 25, 1991, in Umuarama, Parana, Brazil. Her parents, Julio and Neusa Andrade, were farmers who worked in their plantation fields to provide for their family. According to information available online, Andrade is of Native Brazilian descent through her great-grandmother.

She explained the story behind her roots in an interview with MMA Fighting in 2018, where she stated, “When Portuguese arrived here, everyone was native Brazilians, so I have that in my blood. My great grandmother was caught in the woods, a pure native Brazilian…”

Andrade also has an older brother, Fernando. She grew up playing futsal and soccer and even had aspirations to take her talents to the professional level. But when she received an offer to play for a club in Sao Paulo, her parents didn’t allow her to move due to safety concerns.

She began training in judo while she was still in school and in 2011, she started training in jiu-jitsu. Later in the same year, she made her professional MMA debut. Her aptitude for fighting was evident early as she won 8 out of 10 of her first fights in Brazil!

Andrade made her UFC debut when she faced Liz Carmouche in 2013. However, she could not secure the win as she lost via TKO in the second round. It’s also interesting to note that she made her debut as a bantamweight before deciding to move to strawweight in 2016. This decision has allowed her to become a UFC champion in the weight class by defeating Rose Namajunas at UFC 237 in 2019.

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As she heads into UFC 300, the Brazilian fighter has already got a goal in mind. She has predicted that the road back to the UFC title could force her to revisit some familiar faces!

Road to UFC strawweight title filled with “rematches” claims Andrade

Going into the UFC 300 matchup against Marina Rodriguez, Jessica Andrade will be looking to continue her winning ways. At UFC 295 in November, last year, she snapped a 3-fight losing streak with a stunning finish of Mackenzie Dern. This has put her back on track in her journey towards becoming a UFC champion yet again. While she suffered losses to Erin Blanchfield, Yan Xiaonan, and Tatiana Suarez during her streak of setbacks, Andrade is aware that the path to UFC strawweight gold might see her face familiar faces inside the Octagon. In the press conference after UFC 295, she stated, “I know that in order to actually be a champion, to be able to fight for the belt toward the end of the year next year, I’m going to have to have some rematches and beat some girls that beat me.”

One of the names that beat her, Yan Xiaonan, will be challenging for the strawweight title at UFC 300. Depending upon the outcome of that fight, Andrade’s prediction for “rematches” might come true!

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