Jessica Andrade brutalizes Jessica Penne by TKO at UFC 199

By foxsports
Published

It looks like the move down to strawweight was the right career move for Jessica Andrade after she punished former title contender Jessica Penne to earn a second-round TKO in her debut at 115-pounds.

Andrade started her UFC career as a bantamweight and while she found some success in the weight class, the Brazilian was always undersized while competing at 135-pounds.

So cutting down to strawweight seemed like a logical next step and it paid off in a big way on Saturday night.

As soon as the fight started, Andrade pressed the action while pushing Penne against the cage and unloading a huge barrage of strikes.

Time and time again, Penne got trapped against the cage while trying to cover up as best she could while Andrade just fired away with combination after combination.

Penne somehow made it to the end of the first round, but things only got worse for her in the second.

Andrade was on the attack almost immediately and once again she force Penne to move backwards while dropping bombs to the head and body. It was clear Penne wasn't offering any kind of counter so Andrade just opened up her offense with a punishing series of blows.

Penne showed incredible toughness as she refused to go down, but the referee finally saw enough with Andrade just blasting away and her opponent no longer intelligently defending herself.

The stoppage came at 2:03 into the second round.

Andrade finds new life at strawweight with a win over a former title contender and now she's looking to add a former champion to her resume as well.

"I felt great. I think I am in the proper weight class now, I feel strong and confident and I am sure that 115-pounds is the place for me," Andrade said after the fight. "I guess that a win over Jessica Penne should put me in the top-10. I felt very strong and I feel that this was my best fight in the UFC. I was very focused during this camp because I knew my opponent was very tough.

"I was supposed to fight Carla Esparza on the May 29 card, but she didn't want to fight me. I want her on the next Brazil card!"