Jessica Andrade made history Saturday when she became the first female to win UFC fights in three divisions with a first-round finish of Katlyn Chookagian at UFC on ESPN+ 38.
Andrade’s (21-8 MMA, 12-6 UFC) powerful strikes to Chookagian’s (14-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) body set up a first-round TKO, giving the former strawweight champion a solid introduction to the women’s flyweight division.
The 125-pound bout was the UFC on ESPN+ 38 co-main event at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It streamed on ESPN+.
Andrade instantly looked to close the distance to start the fight. She winged haymakers at Chookagian, forced her way into the clinch, then landed a takedown, all within the first minute. Chookagian avoided damage and found her way back to the feet, but a clinch battle resumed. They eventually broke up, but Andrade dropped Chookagian with a powerful leg kick and started to focus her attacks to the leg.
Chookagian began to find her timing in the latter stages of the round when she connected with short-range knees coming in. Andrade forced her way inside late in the round with a slam followed by ground-and-pound before Chookagian escaped.
Andrade caught Chookagian with a hard shot to the body just before the bell, then charged and landed another attack with a short hook to the body. Chookagian went down, and the referee stepped in to stop the action at the 4:55 mark of Round 1.
After becoming the 12th in UFC history to get victories in three weight classes, and first female, Andrade set her sights on a second belt with a callout of women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko.
“We’ll see if this gets me Valentina,” Andrade said through an interpreter during her post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 38 results include:
- Jessica Andrade def. Katlyn Chookagian via TKO (body punch) – Round 1, 4:55
- Jimmy Crute def. Modestas Bukauskas via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:01
- James Krause def. Claudio Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jonathan Martinez def. Thomas Almeida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Guram Kutateladze def. Mateusz Gamrot via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Gillian Robertson def. Poliana Botelho via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
- Jun Yong Park def. John Phillips via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)
- Fares Ziam def. Jamie Mullarkey via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Maxim Grishin def. Gadzhimurad Antigulov via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:58
- Said Nurmagomedov def. Mark Striegl via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:51
