Jessica Andrade ‘would love’ to welcome Miesha Tate to UFC flyweight division
Miesha Tate is considering a move down to flyweight after her friend Julianna Peña won the UFC bantamweight championship, and Jessica Andrade wants to be the one to welcome her to 125 pounds.
“Bate Estaca” was hoping to land a trilogy bout with strawweight champion Rose Namajunas next, but changed targets after company president Dana White indicated Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza 2 will “100 percent” be next for that belt.
Andrade, a former UFC strawweight champion who has competed at bantamweight in the past, knocked out flyweight Cynthia Calvillo in her most recent appearance in September.
“I recently read that Miesha is thinking about the idea of going down to 125 pounds and I would love to be her first opponent in this new weight class,” Andrade told MMA Fighting. “Maybe she never thought about it, but I entered the UFC because of her, when she went to shoot TUF with Ronda [Rousey] and withdrew from a fight with Liz Carmouche, and I was signed as her replacement.”
Andrade lost that bout, going 3-3 as a bantamweight before dropping to strawweight and winning the belt in her second attempt, stopping Namajunas in Rio de Janeiro. “Bate Estaca” holds knockouts in three weight classes in the UFC, but came up short in her attempt to dethrone flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko earlier this year.
Tate lost to Rousey after shooting the reality show, but bounced with four wins in a row before eventually capturing gold with a comeback win over Holly Holm in 2016. “Cupcake” retired from the sport after losing back to back fights to Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington later that year and has gone 1-1 since returning in 2021, finishing Marion Reneau and losing a decision to Ketlen Vieira.
“[Tate and I] went different directions in the organization, but I followed her this entire time in the UFC when I still competed at 135,” Andrade said. “She won the 135 belt right after I dropped to 115. I believe that a fight between a former strawweight champion and a former bantamweight champion would be an interesting show for the fans.”