Manager: Jessica Andrade was offered UFC champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, wants another fight first

Former UFC bantamweight Jessica Andrade has had only two strawweight appearances, but, at least according to her camp, they have been convincing enough to earn her a title shot.

Interpreting for Andrade (15-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) during a chat with MMAjunkie Radio after the cancellation of her UFC 207 scrap (first against Maryna Moroz and then Angela Hill), manager Tiago Okamura said the organization gave her the option of going straight for a title shot against champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) instead of taking another fight.

But, given the financial needs of such a high-stakes camp, they felt it was best to take another scrap before making that move.

“After all the mess, the fight being canceled, they mentioned we could go straight (to the title shot),” Okamura said. “But honestly, for us it’s not very interesting because we need to make this worth (it), this has to be a proper camp.

“If we’re doing the title shot, we need to have money. We need to be prepared to invest on that camp because it’s a serious one, and it has to be taken with a different level of investment than a regular camp because we’re not going to go for a title fight just to be there.”

Another reason behind the decision to wait a little longer, Okamura said, was the timeframe for Jedrzejczyk’s return.

“They didn’t mention a timeline,” Okamura said. “But we know Joanna has been saying she wants to fight in April, and that will be a little too late. So it would be ideal to do one more fight, make some money and put all that into camp.

“And then if she gets the title fight and hopefully defends it once before the end of the year, that would be nice.”

Andrade traveled to Las Vegas for this past week’s UFC 207 event with no set opponent, but still hoping she would get to fight. However, with original opponent Moroz injured and Invicta FC champion Hill kept from stepping in due to USADA guidelines, the promotion just couldn’t get her a replacement in time.

In spite of the inevitable financial blow of not getting a paycheck – and a basically wasted weight cut down to 115 pounds – Andrade took the trip to do some extra media and diversify her training.

“Unfortunately the fight was canceled,” Andrade lamented. “But I came, I trained, I made the most of it. I didn’t lose the camp. I’m taking the opportunity to get even better for any upcoming fights.”

Currently No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, Andrade doesn’t know who she’s fighting next, but she makes no secret of the perennial target on her hit list: inaugural UFC strawweight champ Carla Esparza (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC), ranked No. 5.

The Brazilian fighter’s latest callout came in form of a tweet, which she explained was sparked by an MMAjunkie story (via Twitter):

“We saw it at your website: Carla Esparza saying she didn’t have money, she didn’t have fights, etc.,” Andrade said. “I said, ‘Hey, I’m here!’ I didn’t fight because I didn’t have an opponent, and she’s asking for an opponent? I’m here. I’ll fight you anywhere, any event, any time. I’ll beat you up. … It’s all settled.

“She just needs to want it. I’ve asked for this time several times, and unfortunately every time she ran. She actually just wants someone easy to beat. She doesn’t want someone who’ll beat her, so that’s what happens.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.