ROUNDTABLE: Who wins the Claudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Andrade fight, and why?

Who wins the Claudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Andrade fight, and why?

RICK MONSEY, MMATorch Contributor

These are two world-class fighters that have been traveling down similar paths and will now meet for a possible fight of the night.  Jessica Andrade is looking to rebound from her last loss, which was at the hands of Joanna “Champion.” Meanwhile Claudia Gadelha is two victories separated from her own defeat against Joanna.  A victory here can fast track the winner into another future title shot.  Meanwhile, a loss might motivate the competitor to move up a weight division.  This fight should be used as a chance for both competitors to get a high profile victory and to show how they have improved since their respective losses.  Both need to show they can bring something new to Joanna.  The result here will be Claudia Gadelha having her hand raised by decision.  She will find a way to avoid Andrade’s bull rush offense and get her to the ground.

JOHN HARRIS, MMATorch Contributor

I am going with Claudia Gadelha by decision.  Gadelha’s only two career losses have came against current strawweight champion Joanna Jerdzejczyk. Andrade’s most recent defeat also came to champion Jerdzejczyk. A win would most likely put either woman near the top of the contenders list for the next shot at the strawweight title. Andrade is a very aggressive striker who likes to let her hands go early and often. This will most likely be here down fall if she can’t finish Gadelha quickly.  Gadelha has excellent takedowns and is deadly when she gets her opponent on their back. I look for her to avoid some strikes from Andrade, change levels, get the takedown and control the fight from there. She should be able to grind her way to a decision if she can avoid the big hooks of Andradre.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATorch Columnist

Both of these women are extremely tough and have all the tools to make it a rough night for their opponent. I’m going with Gadelha to win a very close decision. I could easily see this being a split decision, very controversial decision that asks more questions than it answers, but I think Gadelha will do enough to get the win and make her case for another title shot.

NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS ROUNDTABLE: Who wins the Ovince Saint Preux vs. Yushin Okami fight, and why?