Exclusive: Jessica Andrade accuses Mackenzie Dern of ducking her when she was on a winning streak
Jessica Andrade has accused Mackenzie Dern of ducking her when she was on a winning streak.
The former UFC women's strawweight champion is set to return to the octagon this weekend for her fifth bout of the year. Going into the fight, a lot has been said about how Andrade would look inside the octagon after suffering three defeats already this year.
Interestingly, the fight between Jessica Andrade and Mackenzie Dern could've happened a while ago. As revealed by Andrade during a recent exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Andrew Whitelaw, Dern allegedly declined to fight the former UFC women's strawweight champion when she was on a winning streak.
Andrade claimed:
"It's a great challenge. It's a fight that should've happened a while ago. I was supposed to fight Mackenzie [Dern] in the past. She didn't accept it. At that time, perhaps, because of the fact that I was actually on the up and up. I was ascending. I was just coming off of wins. And now that I'm kind of in a valley a little bit, coming off of three losses, she accepted it. I understand that."
UFC 295: Jessica Andrade predicts Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira
UFC 295 is set to be headlined by a UFC light heavyweight championship fight between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira. Ahead of the fight, Jessica Andrade gave her prediction for the bout during the same exclusive interview.
According to Andrade, the light heavyweight division requires the fighter to be "a little more complete," and because of the same reason, it appears she is siding with Jiri Prochazka for his fight against Alex Pereira. She said:
"This is a division where you need to be a little more complete, so Jiri [Prochazka] has a little bit more advantage... We know that 'Poatan' has got the heavy hand and he has got immense power. He could definitely finish things off... Of course, I'm gonna root for Alex Pereira to win. But we don't know if Jiri is gonna come up with different types of ways of taking him down."
Tune in: UFC 295: Prochazka vs Pereira will be telecast live on Sony Sports Network in India on 12th November 2023, 8:30 AM IST onwards, on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu) channels & will be available to livestream on Sony LIV.