Jessica Andrade has the chance to become the best strawweight fighter in the world Saturday night in Dallas, as she takes on UFC champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event of UFC 211, but that wasn’t her first sports goal growing up.
Born in Umuarama, a tiny small in the northeast area of Parana — actually closer to Paraguay than the capital of the state, Curitiba — Andrade was addicted to sports. Andrade would play everything she could whenever she had the chance, and would do well in pretty much everything.
Andrade had won a state championship in table tennis, but her ultimate dream was to become a soccer player.