The Film Room: Jessica Andrade
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Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight titleholder Jessica Andrade will return to the Octagon to defend her crown for the first time against Weili Zhang in the UFC Fight Night 157 main event on Saturday at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China. Andrade stunned the mixed martial arts community in May, when she captured the 115-pound championship with a vicious slam knockout of Rose Namajunas and extended her current winning streak to four fights.
Andrade supplies the material for this installment of The Film
Room.
As she progresses, Andrade is becoming more reliant on the clinch and her grappling skills. Andrade spent the majority of her career at bantamweight, where she was always the much smaller woman. To make up for the size difference, she had to develop a good inside boxing and clinch game, which also allowed her to take advantage of her punching power in the pocket. Her knockout power and ability to take shots and keep coming forward is second to none in the division, and she knows it. As a result, she is not afraid to trade in the pocket and use her grit to overwhelm opponents.
A style like this requires good defense, which has never been Andrade’s strong suit. Lately, however, she has been much better at moving her head in the pocket and rolling with punches. Since she wants to always be the leading attacker, she does not have to use footwork to evade. Instead, she likes to stay in punching range and either roll with the punches or take them on the hands so she can look for counters.
Although Andrade’s leading attacks garner most of the attention, she might be better when working on the counter. With that said, she is not your usual counterstriker. She likes to pressure forward with feints and footwork, wait for the opponent to strike and then come forward with full-fledged counter combos. As an aggressive fighter, she almost never counters with single strikes and likes to simultaneously mix in her leading attacks. As mentioned, Andrade might be the only women at 115 pounds with pure one-punch knockout power. In a recent fight with Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Andrade landed a beautiful counter right hook that knocked the Poland native senseless.
Another aspect of her attack worth noting is how she always counters an opponent’s kicks. Since she plods forward and stands a bit flat-footed, leg kicks are her kryptonite, as we saw in her fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Instead of learning to check them, Andrade elects to catch the kicks and counter them, usually with a lead hook. This tactic could work wonders against Zhang, who throws lots of kicks, especially low kicks and side kicks to the body. However, it could turn out like the Jedrzejczyk fight, where she was severely slowed down by leg kicks and could not close the distance for all five rounds. When Andrade cannot get into the pocket, she ends up getting desperate and rushes forward with nothing but lead hooks that are easily avoidable.
Andrade is a striking-based fighter, but she is slowly improving on the ground and relying more on her grappling when she cannot get the job done on the feet. Most of her takedowns come from the clinch, but she is not opposed to shooting for the hips from the center of the Octagon. Andrade is one of the strongest women in the division, and it becomes apparent in her slams and throws. She effortlessly ragdolls many opponents and can land takedowns with her strength alone.
If Andrade was not already known as the strongest and most explosive fighter in the division, her slam knockout win over Namajunas definitely proved that belief. From what we have seen, Zhang is also one of the stronger women in the division and has an excellent clinch game. She also lands most of her takedowns from the clinch and has some of the best transitions and guard passing in the division. If Andrade cannot land her strikes and tries to grapple, she may have a tougher time getting Zhang to the ground than she has in the past.
If Andrade can get her opponent down, she will immediately posture up and look for the TKO. She is just as aggressive on the ground as she is on the feet and rarely concerns herself with passing guard when she can posture up from any position and finish the fight. Zhang is known as a striker, but she is an underrated grappler and might look to get this fight to the ground if Andrade overwhelms her on the feet.
Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight titleholder Jessica Andrade will return to the Octagon to defend her crown for the first time against Weili Zhang in the UFC Fight Night 157 main event on Saturday at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China. Andrade stunned the mixed martial arts community in May, when she captured the 115-pound championship with a vicious slam knockout of Rose Namajunas and extended her current winning streak to four fights.
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Early in her career, Andrade got by on the kind of pure
athleticism, aggression and knockout power that is rarely seen in
someone her size. However, for the last few years, she has started
to put together all of her skills and become a well-rounded martial
artist who can win a fight wherever it takes place. She remains one
of the most aggressive strikers in the UFC but now has the proper
technique and experience to complement her wild style. Although
this style is usually not advisable since it leaves one open
defensively, Andrade knows she is probably the only fighter in the
division with one-punch knockout power. As such, it is worth it to
take a few punches on her way into the pocket to land some of her
own. Andrade simply walks forward with strikes to trap the opponent
against the cage and then unloads with furious combos to the head
and body.
As she progresses, Andrade is becoming more reliant on the clinch and her grappling skills. Andrade spent the majority of her career at bantamweight, where she was always the much smaller woman. To make up for the size difference, she had to develop a good inside boxing and clinch game, which also allowed her to take advantage of her punching power in the pocket. Her knockout power and ability to take shots and keep coming forward is second to none in the division, and she knows it. As a result, she is not afraid to trade in the pocket and use her grit to overwhelm opponents.
A style like this requires good defense, which has never been Andrade’s strong suit. Lately, however, she has been much better at moving her head in the pocket and rolling with punches. Since she wants to always be the leading attacker, she does not have to use footwork to evade. Instead, she likes to stay in punching range and either roll with the punches or take them on the hands so she can look for counters.
Although Andrade’s leading attacks garner most of the attention, she might be better when working on the counter. With that said, she is not your usual counterstriker. She likes to pressure forward with feints and footwork, wait for the opponent to strike and then come forward with full-fledged counter combos. As an aggressive fighter, she almost never counters with single strikes and likes to simultaneously mix in her leading attacks. As mentioned, Andrade might be the only women at 115 pounds with pure one-punch knockout power. In a recent fight with Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Andrade landed a beautiful counter right hook that knocked the Poland native senseless.
Another aspect of her attack worth noting is how she always counters an opponent’s kicks. Since she plods forward and stands a bit flat-footed, leg kicks are her kryptonite, as we saw in her fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Instead of learning to check them, Andrade elects to catch the kicks and counter them, usually with a lead hook. This tactic could work wonders against Zhang, who throws lots of kicks, especially low kicks and side kicks to the body. However, it could turn out like the Jedrzejczyk fight, where she was severely slowed down by leg kicks and could not close the distance for all five rounds. When Andrade cannot get into the pocket, she ends up getting desperate and rushes forward with nothing but lead hooks that are easily avoidable.
Andrade is a striking-based fighter, but she is slowly improving on the ground and relying more on her grappling when she cannot get the job done on the feet. Most of her takedowns come from the clinch, but she is not opposed to shooting for the hips from the center of the Octagon. Andrade is one of the strongest women in the division, and it becomes apparent in her slams and throws. She effortlessly ragdolls many opponents and can land takedowns with her strength alone.
If Andrade was not already known as the strongest and most explosive fighter in the division, her slam knockout win over Namajunas definitely proved that belief. From what we have seen, Zhang is also one of the stronger women in the division and has an excellent clinch game. She also lands most of her takedowns from the clinch and has some of the best transitions and guard passing in the division. If Andrade cannot land her strikes and tries to grapple, she may have a tougher time getting Zhang to the ground than she has in the past.
If Andrade can get her opponent down, she will immediately posture up and look for the TKO. She is just as aggressive on the ground as she is on the feet and rarely concerns herself with passing guard when she can posture up from any position and finish the fight. Zhang is known as a striker, but she is an underrated grappler and might look to get this fight to the ground if Andrade overwhelms her on the feet.
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