"I think it happened at the right moment" - When Virna Jandiroba vacated her Invicta FC belt to make UFC debut on short notice
Virna Jandiroba has been a fixture in the UFC for over five years now, but her initial entry into the promotion excited many mixed martial arts fans.
In this MMA throwback, SK takes a look back at when the undefeated fighter vacated her Invicta FC title for a short-notice opportunity to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. 'Carcara' was confident jumping up to the big show, having practiced martial arts for half of her life up until that point.
Jandiroba was already a jiu-jitsu black belt and had a professional record of 14-0 in the sport of MMA while operating as the reigning Invicta FC strawweight champion. She had, at the time, recently notched her first successful defense of that belt against Janaisa Morandin at Invicta FC 31.
After that, a vacancy popped up in the UFC as Livia Renata Souza had to pull out and Jandiroba was made privy to that shot less than a month out.
She was then offered a fight with a former UFC strawweight champion and excitedly took the bout offer. Speaking to MMA Junkie at the time, Jandiroba said:
"I'm very happy to be contracted by the UFC. I think it happened at the right moment. My team and I thought I could have been brought in earlier, based on my fight record. In any event, now is the right time, against the right opponent."
Carla Esparza was the combatant in question and she bested Jandiroba via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN +8 in April 2019.
Check out the Invicta FC event where Virna Jandiroba captured gold below:
Virna Jandiroba and her UFC progress since then
Virna Jandiroba lost her promotional debut and first MMA fight but notched consecutive submission wins thereafter over Mallory Martin and Felice Herrig. Jandiroba would then lose another unanimous decision but this time to Mackenzie Dern at UFC 256 and alternated between a win then a loss after that December 2020 setback to Dern.
The now-36-year-old defeated Kanako Murata but fell short of Amanda Ribas on points at UFC 267. Jandiroba would rebound from that Ribas setback and put together a three-fight win streak which she is riding today.
The native of Brazil earned three consecutive unanimous decision wins over Angela Hill, Marina Rodriguez, and Lupita Godinez through that aforementioned stretch.
Jandiroba looks to extend that streak to a fourth straight victory in this weekend's UFC Fight Night main event. She will clash with Amanda Lemos on July 20 in a consequential clash at 115 pounds. Jandiroba will step into the octagon as the number five ranked contender at strawweight while Lemos is presently the number three ranked combatant in that weight category.