Report: Claudia Gadelha, Jessica Andrade set to meet at UFC Fight Night 117 in Japan

Taking matchmaking into their own hands seems to have paid off for UFC strawweights Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Andrade.

After Gadelha (15-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) issued an Instagram challenge to Andrade (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who accepted it, Combate.com says the matchup is on. According to the report, the two are set to meet at UFC Fight Night 117, which takes place Friday, Sept. 22 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, near Tokyo (via Instagram).

Li hoje que a @jessicammapro está querendo lutar comigo. Estou esperando a resposta do UFC sobre minha próxima adversária desde que desci do octógono na última luta e ninguém topou até agora. Então Jessica, vamos fazer acontecer?? Estou esperando uma ligação hoje qualquer hora, até se for 2 da manhã. @seanshelby @danawhite @ufc !! I'm waiting to hear about my next fight since I got out of the octagon in my last fight. Nobody stepped in until now but I read today that @jessicammapro wants to fight me. She is got some guts!! Let's make it happen @jessicammapro @seanshelby @danawhite ?? I'm waiting for a phone call anytime today. ?? #teamclaudia #TeamCG #mmanerd #ufc

A post shared by CG (@claudiagadelhaufc) on Jul 24, 2017 at 11:04am PDT

Currently ranked No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, Gadelha comes off a quick submission win over former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz, at last month’s UFC 212. Gadelha had beaten Cortney Casey before that, which puts her at 2-0 since a failed five-round title beat against current champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk at last July’s TUF 23 Finale.

Jessica Andrade

No. 3 Andrade, in turn, comes off her own unsuccessful stab at Jedrzejczyk’s belt, at UFC 211. The setback snapped the three-fight streak that Andrade, who started her UFC run at bantamweight, had been riding since dropping to the 115-pound division. Her most recent win was a UFC “Fight of the Night” decision effort over former Invicta FC champ Angela Hill at UFC Fight Night 104.

The latest UFC Fight Night 117 card includes:

• Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux
• Jussier Formiga vs. Ulka Sasaki
• Henrique da Silva vs. Gokhan Saki
• Chan-Mi Jeon vs. Syuri Kondo
• Claudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Andrade

For more on UFC Fight Night 117, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.