UFC 199 - Andrade happy at strawweight: I was afraid I'd 'lose my power, my speed'

Jessica Andrade feels good in her new weight class, especially after her debut at UFC 199. She knocked out former title challenger, Jessica Penne, in the second round to make a big splash at 115lbs. As she told Combate, she was afraid the drop would have a negative effect on her performance, but she was happily surprised with the result.

"When I joined the UFC, the 115lb division did not exist. My biggest fear was to drop a division and lose my power, my speed, so I kept postponing it until my loss to Raquel Pennington. That made me realize it was becoming too difficult to hang at bantamweight. My opponents were getting too heavy. My gas ended and it had never ended before. That’s what made me try dropping down. Thank God everything went well, the cut was super easy and that was my major concern. My power stayed the same and my speed increased. "

Her first KO win since she entered the UFC, Andrade also believes the change will help her finish more fights.

"I feel great. I think I’ll get a lot more knockouts and submissions now that I’m in the right place. It had been a while since I knocked anybody out. I couldn’t impose my strength and my will. I will always try to put on the same show I put on last Saturday."

Jessica Andrade defeated Jessica Penne by TKO in the second round at UFC 199. The win came after a rear-naked choke loss to Raquel Pennington back at UFC 191, last September.