Former champion Jessica Andrade answered questions from the press at the official UFC Vegas 69 media day ahead of facing …
just goes to the late notice here stepping in I guess just tell us the story of how this all came together foreign [Music] [Music] satisfied’s gonna fall I mean it’s so hey go ahead just you know sign me up put my name in and then on uh in in the middle of the night like on on Saturday we say hey fight is confirmed so all you wanted to check was how’s the weight and the way was fine because of all the camp that I had I mean I come from from fight against Laura Murphy everything was okay and I and you saw it um you saw I was able to actually to show how good the camp was inside the Octagon so I mean we’re finding Danny over there uh and then I was just eager to fight if you think about this I mean I only had one fight last year so it uh of course I’ll fight as many times as I can and you know the camp itself prepared for for this fight all the things that you’re going to see uh take down defense striking so I mean even the camp actually falls if it fits into this one very nice uh the Aaron Blanchard obviously a young fighter kind of knew to the division uh had you been following her like were you familiar with her body of work when the opponent was offered um foreign [Music] foreign up and coming I I’ve seen the fights and most importantly obviously her last fight which really shows how things go um I see some I mean she’s really evasive on on the Striking not as um not as powerful as far as the Striking is concerned but then you see her when she takes down the ground and pound and how she actually gets the submissions and how she actually locks people down so I think this is the most important thing for me in takedown defense um and and just to actually keeping myself on my toes I mean we know that whenever we go to the ground things can get tough with her um but as far as the fight itself I mean she was about to fight I mean a number of coming in number three uh she coming in and to fight the number one in the rankings and then here I am in number three you know what I’ve had the chance to actually fight somebody uh and they had the opportunity to fight and someone give me a lower ranking so why not give that chance to someone else as well um I I think it’s a challenge to be be accepted I’m ready for everything you know everybody I don’t fear anyone uh I mean we’re we’re all in the rankings over here and I just think it’s a the fight itself I come from three straight wins as well so it’s gonna be a good fight that’s what we can see is it a challenge for you to be I don’t say motivated because it’s a fight but for her if she beats you she meets a former champion and makes her career for you it’s just beating a 23 year old Prospect so is it difficult to like have the same level of motivation um foreign foreign [Music] [Music] foreign to actually go and and and and do the job and get better and improve the rankings a oh Jessica she’s she’s already 31 years old I mean she’s she’s proven herself before so and you need to understand that my will to win is is the same if not better like I can see myself with this fight against her propelling me to actually have a title shot with Whaley so there’s something in it for me as well and I’ll tell you as far as the challenge is concerned if you think about the fight I mean she actually had a camp that’s prepared for Tyler completely so she it’s a completely different opponent she catered all the the training to someone that has a different different reach different height different I mean different techniques I mean she’s prepared for the strikings and now now she thought that she could take her to the ground I mean I have strong Jujitsu I have a strong ground game this changes for her it’s even worse for her because she has to actually basically shift gears on her campaign prepare for me and I’m just starting from now all right I got the fight I was like hey this is uh what I’m gonna fight for uh so I just think that there’s a huge challenge for me in the sense that when I beat an up-and-coming Prospect like this I there there’s something in it for me to actually come up and say I will get get something out of this and I think people will see me before I am and I am going to get a shot I know completely different divisions but I I want to get a title shot away later I think I’m going to get out of this one well the last last thing for me I guess that’s the answering question because technically within Striking Distance of a title shot in two different divisions so I guess does she look at this as a number one Contender fight and could it maybe could you know which division did she want the title in yeah foreign foreign scheduled so you have to take that into consideration and just start you know becoming realistic on the expectations I’ve said this to everyone all year long since the middle of last year that I want to remain a strong and that’s I I’ve set my goals and that’s where I want to stay in and I think I’m again coming off of then a four straight victories I think I am close to actually facing really and on that subject I mean I went to China to face lately I’ve been there I went to her and now I mean we can fight here in Vegas it’ll be great but she or anywhere in the United States this is is its second nature for her I mean she’s done she spend her time in the pi she’s done camps in here I want to take her out to Brazil because I’ve gone to China to face her to remove her out of her comfort zone and I think that you know I did that for her so to speak so why not do it for me but I think it I want to say a straw I’ve said this all along even though the rankings kind of pushed me over there but I do think that with a with a again four straight win I guess it’s not becoming Prospect now I think I’m going to be considered over here for for a really clear shot at lately hey Jessica um I just want to know how did it feel to fight back in Brazil and now you’re fighting back in your new adopted home in Vegas until foreign [Music] Commander on both subjects so starting with here it’s like fighting home I mean all right again adopted at home I’ve I’ve I’ve done so much here trained so much here that my camps here even I mean what I’ve been able to do with the pi I mean all my visits over there how much they’ve helped me uh on the weight management as well just pretty amazing um obviously there’s some adaptation period if you’re somewhere else but just just now for example I just just now I had a couple days ago I actually went to bed at seven and I woke up at five but you know it’s not that far away from what people do here when they’re actually training and they go to bed early wake up early so that’s it but I mean this is all the routine everything here is just It Feels Like Home to me except for sometimes that I don’t understand what people are yelling in the crowd but still I mean hey it’s it’s it’s fun it it feels home so it’s second nature so I’m pretty comfortable on Brazil fighting over there it’s just it’s just so special just feeling the love the warmth to the people um to feel you do you understanding what people say at certain times sometimes don’t even hear that they’re saying but you can feel the vibration you can kind of feel like the place is shaking and again they’re there for you the crowd is there to see us for us and someone’s gonna come into our home and take what’s ours so we can’t let that happen so there’s an added uh incentive to actually fight in Brazil so it was great to be back and bring home in July it’s going to be 10 years inside of the UFC um and and you’re getting better so what what’s going on foreign um I know this evolution is just I feel that now I can do so many of the things that I’ve always wanted and that my masters always told me to do all along always I mean ever since the beginning so I mean if you think about this uh uh I see myself as you know just a glass that’s half full still there’s so much more to be done um there’s been but there’s been an evolution like think about this like I was when I started I was just a blue belt in G2 and I didn’t have any sort of white tie on me and now you think about all the stuff that you do you start doing more you start evolving I think that there’s so much more and I and may after these first 10 years me we have another 10 years so you can see here Jessica that just brings even more to the table and continues to show the evolution that you have seen all throughout old Regatta thanks so much speaking of Vegas did you get to experience the snow yesterday I I can’t remember if you’re part of Brazil snows but uh did you get to experience that yesterday um foreign uh in order for you to see snow in Brazil you have to go deep down south you know our version of the Northeast here so you have to go really down south to actually see it it may if you get lucky you’ll get to see some snow but yeah I got to see it I was actually about to leave for to train uh yesterday so I just whipped up the phone and started making videos for my sister and showing the family and everything else but I it was surreal obviously but I was here in 2019 early 2019 when we had that day to everything just got white and we actually had snow and it was snow like on the ground and everything it was just like a snowy day in Las Vegas and to us is just like a it’s such a special moment because it’s surreal to have been there and to say I saw snow in that desert like no one Associates the desert with snow and I’m like I got to see this and actually you know call my loved ones film it for them and share that moment just I just think is so good to be part of the experience what I saw it just surreal we’re in the desert why is it snowing thank you sorry one last one you’ve been champion before I know you want to get that belt back again you know that aside what else is pushing what else is motivating you to show that Improvement you’ve been showing for the last 10 years that seems like you’re not aging if anything you just either staying the same or you might even be getting younger thank you so much for the younger part [Music] in town is um [Music] um I think my family first and foremost because there was a moment in our in my life that I didn’t have that uh I think maybe I kind of like that goal as a the unit the initial journey in MMA and I’ve I’ve gone back to that uh the my Master obviously just the the the the the team and everybody else that surrounds me it’s just so it is amazing to actually have that opportunity look at what I’ve been able to see just think of my personally um to the things that I’ve been able to accomplish the things that I’ve been able to see the places that I’ve been able to see the people that I’ve been able to meet um you have that myself but that motivates me to get even more but then when I go back and I see my mother and I see everything that I’ve been able to provide for her and how much more I can still continue to provide that’s great motivation but going back to that whole you know the half you know that cup that’s just it’s the half that that’s what it is it’s not it’s not full of everything that I can provide I mean my my master like a father figure to me says kid now everything that we’ve always thought you it’s not that we’re giving you new teachings here we’ve always said some things now now we’re putting them in practice now you’re able to employ these things because you know you’re a few feel more comfortable you you understand your limits but you understand where you we can you can do more so I mean I think I have so many more weapons to bring in I mean I have my knee I have I have elbows you haven’t seen that from me and I think those those weapons are just different things in the Arsenal they can keep bringing back I just think it the keeping that thing you know half empty the half full because you know you can add so much more so my master even says kid I mean for those five years for those 10 10 that you want to fight right now your Peak Jessica and you’re you’re only gonna get better from here but now you can put in practice things we’ve always taught you but now if you’re more comfortable you’re more experienced and I think that that adds the bonus so I would go back to my relationship with my family um the teachings of of my master my coach and what and what I can bring uh uh to the table so I think all those things motivate me a lot cool thank you