Originally, Erin Blanchfield was supposed to fight Taila Santos in the main event of UFC Fight Night 219. However, only one week before the event, Santos pulled out of the event and Jéssica Andrade stepped in as her replacement.
With just one week’s notice, Andrade hasn’t had much time to prepare for the fight. Nevertheless, bookmakers still have faith in her, as evident from her UFC Fight Night 219 odds.
Jéssica Andrade vs Erin Blanchfield Odds
| Money | Odds |
|---|---|
| Jéssica Andrade | -184 |
| Erin Blanchfield | +142 |
*Odds taken from FanDuel on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.
When, Where, and How to Watch?
- Place: UFC Apex in Vegas, Nevada
- Date: Saturday, February 18, 2023
- Time: ~10:00 PM ET
- How to Watch: UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+
Andrade Fighting Again Four Weeks After Beating Murphy
It was January 21, 2023, when Jéssica Andrade fought the last time. Her opponent at UFC 283 was Lauren Murphy, whom she absolutely demolished. The fight did go the distance, but Andrade completely dominated her opponent, landing 231 significant strikes, which is more than she ever did in the past.
As a result, she’s now 24-9 overall, with her most recent loss happening back in April 2021 in the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship fight against Valentina Shevchenko. Actually, pretty much all of her losses happened to legendary UFC fighters. In addition to losing to the Kyrgyz GOAT, she also lost to Rose Namajunas, Zhang Weili, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. All of those fighters were either champions or contenders at some point in the past.
Knowing this, it’s clear that Andrade is a world-class fighter who needs to be thought of as the favorite against pretty much any opponent. The only problem ahead of the UFC Fight Night 219 headliner is that she hasn’t had too much time to recover from the previous fight or to prepare for the next one.
Erin Blanchfield Is the Next Big Thing in Women’s MMA
Erin Blanchfield is a 23-year-old fighter with a 10-1 overall record and is 4-0 since joining the UFC. She’s a BJJ expert who’s earned herself a black belt under Karel Pravec. Blanchfield tends to make a lot of takedowns (4.0 per fight), while taking her down is a real challenge considering that her takedown defense is 75%.
In her most recent fight, she took down Molly McCann in Round 1 before finishing her off with a submission (kimura). That’s strange knowing how strong Meatball Molly is, but the fact that Blanchfield was able to deal with the Liverpool-based fighter shows that she’s even stronger.
The question is whether she has enough power to do the same against Andrade. Oddsmakers obviously don’t think so, making Blanchfield a +142 underdog.
Jéssica Andrade vs Erin Blanchfield Prediction
Jéssica Andrade is one of the best female fighters in the world, who’s bound to get another shot at the title in the future. As a reminder, she used to hold the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship three years ago.
In 2023, she’s fighting in the flyweight division. In her first fight in this weight class, she demolished Lauren Murphy. In her second fight, she probably won’t destroy Blanchfield, but we do think she’s going to win anyway.
Pick: Jéssica Andrade to win by decision