LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 7, 2024: Natalia Silva of Brazil punches down Jessica Andrade of Brazil in a flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night: Finals at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
UFC APEX – Saturday night at UFC Las Vegas 97, Jessica Andrade and Natalia Silva battled it out in a flyweight title fight.
Andrade (26-12) came into the bout with the huge advantage of UFC experience and previous title wins from her time at strawweight, and she was looking to add a new star to her resume after a two-fight winning streak that began with impressive wins over Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez.
Silva (17-5-1), undefeated since 2017, entered the bout against Andrade on an impressive five-fight winning streak. Wins over Jasmine Yasdavičius, Teresa Breda, Victoria Leonardo, Andrea Li and Vivian Araujo came into the bout with the hard-hitting Andrade.
Round 1: Silva comes out quick, landing clean leg kicks and left punches. She moves to the side a lot, but Andrade does a good job of cutting through the cage. Still, she waits a long time before attacking anything. Andrade finally does, but Silva blocks her punches and moves away.
Silva may have landed more strikes, but Andrade was looking to hurt his opponent with every strike, and a powerful side kick from Silva put Andrade in the middle of the former champion’s onslaught, but Andrade held on and finished the round with a neat Superman punch.
Round 2: Silva lands a kick to the calf, then an upright kick, but Andrade doesn’t back down, she comes in to land a nuke punch, but every time Andrade gets close to landing a punch, Silva clinches and lands a knee to the midsection.
Andrade went for the body but was shaken by some hard punches from Silva, who then applied pressure until Andrade recovered.
Round 3: Andrade should have come in harder, but Silva just kept going. The fight was briefly stopped due to a wardrobe malfunction from Silva, but then he started landing hard punches on Andrade again. Andrade couldn’t block the cage anymore and he chased Silva around it.
Silva started attacking Andrade, landing all sorts of kicks reminiscent of a Michelle Waterson-esque jab kick. Silva played well the rest of the round, and the fight ended with the two embracing each other as the seconds ticked by.
Result: Natalia Silva defeated Jessica Andrade by unanimous decision (30-27 × 3)
