After battering Sexton, UFC 171's Jessica Andrade works on neglected ground game

It’s hard to tell exactly what Jessica Andrade is talking about when she assesses her most recent UFC performance, which came against Rosi Sexton.

Asked how she felt in beating a veteran opponent, Andrade told MMAjunkie, “I think I proved to many people that sometimes heart speaks louder than technique.”

That’s certainly one way to look at the fight, though most who did would probably say it wasn’t Andrade’s heart on display, but Sexton’s. The whole thing probably should have been stopped in the first round when Andrade landed a series of punches that crumpled Sexton to the mat. It could have been justifiably stopped a few times later in the bout as it became increasingly clear the endeavor wasn’t a competitive one.

Sexton wasn’t the one dazzling with techniques. Instead, it was Andrade who looked like the consummate pro, and a brutal one at that, picking apart Sexton with heavy punches en route to a unanimous-decision win that was scored 30-26 twice and 30-27.

But maybe the 22-year-old Brazilian is talking about the heart that it takes to rebound after the kind of defeat she did to Sexton. After all, she was pretty well smashed in her octagon debut at UFC on FOX 8, losing via second-round TKO when Liz Carmouche took her to the canvas and pounded her out.

It didn’t take eagle eyes to see Carmouche was the physically bigger opponent, which is a daunting thing for a first-time UFC fighter. Andrade, though, said she was simply too nervous.

“I was feeling very nervous in my UFC debut,” she said. “Size wasn’t the issue. I’ve faced many larger opponents and always did well. That’s the case now, too.”

On Saturday, Andrade (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) meets “The Ultimate Fighter 18? veteran Raquel Pennington (4-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who steps in as an injury replacement for injured “TUF 18? winner Julianna Pena. They meet on the FOX Sports 2-televised prelims of UFC 171, which takes place at Dallas’ American Airlines Center.

“Raquel Pennington is [5 inches] taller than I,” Andrade said. “And regarding my second UFC bout, I was better prepared and more comfortable in the organization. Now I’m feeling very much at home.”

That seems like bad news for whoever steps into the cage opposite Andrade, as the fighter who showed up this past October in Manchester, England, was the kind of opponent you’d best avoid if striking is your bread and butter.

Pennington isn’t a stranger to the ground, but she does favor punches over armbars, so the stage appears set for another exciting fight.

Another added bonus for Andrade is that the work she’s done preparing for Pena, a ground-and-pound specialist, could wind up giving her an edge for Pennington.

“I think our fight will be great because she’s a skilled boxer,” Andrade said. “However, I’ve been working on takedowns and ground-and-pound with my team. It was a facet of my MMA that I had been neglecting.”

Then again, according to Andrade, if you’ve got heart, that can make up for technique when the punches start flying. Ideally, though, you want both in a game as tough and unforgiving as MMA.

Andrade is finding out as she goes how she measures up with both. And while she might define her traits differently than us, it’s hard to argue with her recent results.

Whatever works for her is working just fine.

“I think I can go as far as I wish to go, but ultimately we must take one fight at a time,” she said. “I hope to keep winning, renew my contract, keep learning new skills, so I can be closer to the belt each day.”

For the latest on UFC 171, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.