Jessica Andrade (20-8) is set to move to flyweight, her third weight class in the UFC. When she does, she’ll be welcomed by Katlyn Chookagian (14-3).
The former UFC strawweight champion started her career inside the octagon as a bantamweight, where she went 4-3 from 2013 to 2015. “Bate Estaca” then made the drop to strawweight the following year, making her 115lbs debut in June 2016 at UFC 199. She defeated Jessica Penne by TKO that night, which set her off on a three-fight win streak that led to a failed title challenge against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
A second title bid against Rose Namajunas last year at UFC 237 yielded better results, with the Brazilian winning the title with a slam KO in the second round, after being outworked in the first. She would lose the strawweight title in her very next fight, however, to Weili Zhang. Earlier this year, she suffered her second straight defeat, in a rematch with “Thug Rose.”
It seems Andrade is hoping a change in division will be the cure for what ails her. MMA Junkie was first to report news of the move, and Andrade’s booking with Chookagian.
It’s worth noting that when Andrade made the drop to strawweight in 2016, the women’s flyweight division did not exist in the UFC.
As for Katlyn Chookagian, she recently bounced back from a title fight loss against Valentina Shevchenko by defeating the champion’s sister, Antonina. Overall, she’s 5-2 since returning to the flyweight division in 2018, after competing there outside the UFC.
The UFC’s October 17 card does not currently have a location set. The following fights have been reported for the card thus far:
Chan Sung Jung vs. Brian Ortega
Jessica Andrade vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Modestas Bukauskas vs. Jimmy Crute
Muslim Salikhov vs. Claudio Silva
Renato Moicano vs. Magomed Mustafaev
Poliana Botelho vs. Gillian Robertson
Jun Yong Park vs. John Phillips
