Jéssica Andrade is returning to flyweight for her next UFC fight.
Mike Heck and Damon Martin of MMA Fighting have reported that Andrade and Lauren Murphy are expected to share the Octagon at UFC 283, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Jan. 21, 2023, at Jeunesse Arena in Brazil.
Following a successful debut at flyweight, Andrade earned a championship opportunity against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 261, where she suffered a second-round TKO loss. She rebounded with a first-round TKO of Cynthia Calvillo in her next appearance, but opted to return to strawweight recently.
The former strawweight champion submitted Amanda Lemos with the first-ever standing arm-triangle choke in UFC history at UFC Vegas 52 this past April.
Murphy returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Miesha Tate at UFC Long Island in July. Prior to that, ‘Lucky’ had a five-fight win streak snapped by the aforementioned Shevchenko, who finished her by fifth-round TKO for her sixth defense. Now in contention again, the 39-year-old hoped to get Andrade next, as she sees this fight being a potential No. 1 contender.
Murphy and Andrade are ranked at No. 3 and No. 4 in the division, respectively.
With the addition of Andrade vs. Murphy, UFC 283 has seven confirmed fights. Here is the current line-up:
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno
- Maurício ‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Ihor Potieria
- Paul Craig vs. Johnny Walker
- Josiane Nunes vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos
- Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brad Tavares
- Mounir Lazzez vs. Gabriel Bonfim
- Jéssica Andrade vs. Lauren Murphy
Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates to the event as they become available in the coming weeks.
