Jessica Andrade’s return to strawweight couldn’t have gone much better, and she may not be far from a shot at regaining the title she once held.
“Bate Estaca” weathered some brief adversity on the feet against Amanda Lemos in the main event of UFC Fight Night 205 at the UFC Apex on Saturday before getting her hands on Lemos, whereupon she employed her crushing strength to lock up the first standing arm-triangle choke submission in Octagon history.
As a feat of sheer physical prowess, the standing sub is nearly as impressive as the massive slam with which Andrade knocked out Rose Namajunas to win the strawweight belt three years ago, and the win over a Top 5 opponent in Lemos indicates that Andrade is just as competitively potent as she was when she left the division after losing back-to-back fights to Weili Zhang and Namajunas.