RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Rose Namajunas was a huge underdog the night she shocked the world and knocked out Joanna Jedrzejczyk to win the UFC strawweight belt. She was an underdog in the rematch as well. And now, at UFC 237, Namajunas once again finds herself the betting underdog against Jessica Andrade. But if you ask her opponent, “Thug Rose” is the favorite to win at tonight's main event. ”I always consider myself to be the underdog,” Andrade said. “Rose is the champion, she beat Joanna twice and I couldn’t. I believe I’ve evolved a lot since that fight with Joanna. ”I’m going there as the underdog. Deep inside I know I’m the underdog, and I fight better like that. I have to give my best in there, and that’s why I like being the underdog. Rose is the favorite, and I’m going there to do my job.” Namajunas and Andrade are both riding three-fight winning streaks since their last decision defeats. Andrade earned a shot at the strawweight championship after beating Claudia Gadelha, Tecia Torres, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz following her first attempt to capture the title, a decision loss to Jedrzejczyk in 2017. Namajunas, meanwhile, finished Michelle Waterson before twice beating Jedrzejczyk. ”People say my game is better than hers, but I disagree,” Andrade said. “Everybody is good at something. The only difference is that I’m stronger. I have a good ground game too, my striking is also very aggressive, but Rose has been showing a big evolution in her last fights. I believe it will be a moment to test ourselves inside the Octagon.” UFC 237 will take place at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and air live on pay-per-view on ESPN+.<doc-sep>Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade headlines UFC 237 this May 11, 2019 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One sentence summary David: Rose vs. Bedrock Phil: Flower-pressing, piledriver style Stats Record: Rose Namajunas 8-3 | Jessica Andrade 19-6 Odds: Rose Namajunas +115 | Jessica Andrade -125 History / Introduction to the fighters David: Rose’ ascent has been nothing short of miraculous. It’s just fighting through the stigma of being a “TUF fighter” (which admittedly carries a lot less baggage these days), but also fighting through personal demons that felt tangible in her losses. Against the toughest challenge possible, in Joanna (Former) Champion, none of that mattered. She didn’t just blitz through Joanna twice; she looked confident doing it. Like a prophecy fulfilled, it was as if none of it was ever in doubt. We doubted her then, and yet I think we’re doubting her again. For good reason... Phil: Rose Namajunas has been one of the more unique UFC champions. On her way up, the mark against her was that she seemed too fragile, too breakable to withstand the siege that is top-level MMA. The strange thing about it is that the take wasn’t exactly wrong, but it wasn’t right either. Rose’s struggles with the McGregor dolly incident and Jedrzejczyk’s mind games are a matter of public record, but... she won that Jedrzejczyk fight. Perhaps she is a bit too fragile to be a long-term champion. Or, she may be someone like GSP, who channels their insecurities to make a surprisingly durable competitive mindset. David: Andrade has never left any doubt as to who she is: a rawhide rex of a human, slashing through competition with an impenetrable persistence. It’s rare that toughness defines a fighter’s profile so thoroughly, but it’s a real element that stakes her presence in the cage. Technique and acumen are certainly part of it, but it’s merely the icing rather than the cake. That makes Andrade dangerous. Fighters survive moments — an armbar attempt, a flash knockdown, or a big slam — but few are prepared for 25 minutes of the Stalking Killer from your favorite horror movie. Phil: Jessica Andrade ploughed her way to a title shot, doggedly followed Joanna Jedrzejczyk around the cage for five rounds eating endless punishment, then went right back to the drawing board and punched people until she got a title shot again. It’s hard to think of any fighter on roster right now who is as characterized by pure physicality: at bantamweight Andrade was a handful, but at strawweight she’s nothing less than a force of nature; an avalanche. So far, the book is that you can get out of the way, but you can’t stop it. What’s at stake? Phil: As I mentioned to Connor on this week’s Heavy Hands, this is something of a referendum on Rose: is she a Cody Garbrandt, uniquely suited to taking out the long-reigning champion who came before her, or is she destined for a longer time at the top? David: That’s a great analogy, but all it does is remind me of Cody’s trash talk...or at least what he thinks passes for trash talk. Where do they want it? Phil: Namajunas has become something of a boxer-puncher. In some ways she reminds me a little of Max Holloway. Not necessarily in the pace she sets, but more in how she defines an angular, arrhythmic approach which lives in her offense more than her defense. Much of it is built around the left hook, with the jab as precursor and the right as followup, and the big step-in hook as her damage dealer. While she’s reverted largely to being a boxer of late, it figures that the big head kick that carried her through TUF and her fight with Michelle Waterson is still there, as is her submission game. The question for Rose is how she adapts her style to one where she has to fight off the back foot: she’s built to create collisions and play with offense, not to chip and pivot and circle like Jedrzejczyk. David: Namanjunas is a dangerous range fighter, not because she can threaten with the knockout, but because she’s in such total control at length with her opponent on the end of her punches. With her constant shifting, movement, and pivots in and out of the pocket, she lands a variety of strikes, creating a territorial bubble of boxing not even Joanna could break through. In the past, she wasn’t comfortable following a strict gameplan of creating punch entries from afar, but that’s her bread and butter now. The real question in this fight is how she maintains her flow amidst transitions. She’s good on the ground, but more in relation to being able to re-set on the feet, defend submissions, or pressure on top. The rest — enduring prolonged ground and pound, and dogged positioning — is something she’ll need to be prepared for better than she has previously. Phil: Andrade is about the most straightforward fighter in the UFC. She comes forward without nuance or subtlety, and attempts to punch the opponent real hard as many times as possible. If she gets her hands on them, she attempts to throw them on the floor as hard as possible. Can she be run around and diverted with this kind of approach? She certainly can. She’s often compared to a female John Lineker, but honestly Lineker is a marvel of technique and subtlety in comparison. He has, for example, a jab, and quite a good one at that. Andrade really is physical force made manifest, and unfortunately for many of her opponents that genuinely is enough. Claudia Gadelha, Tecia Torres and others simply did not build styles which took into account that one day they would fight someone much more physically strong than them, who was also completely tireless. David: As wrong as I think Rogan usually is with his cliched analogies (this young person fighting vaguely similar to this big name is JUST LIKE that big name), I thought he was pretty on point with the Wanderlei analogy. Wand’s style might looked a little reckless, but like Andrade, there was just enough underlying technique to explain why they’re so effective beyond raw aggression and strength. Andrade, for example, has a lethal variety of left hooks. Whether it’s a clipping hook inside, a nice mid-range straight, or the sweeping hooks she destroyed KK with, Andrade makes those exchanges with elite fighters count for a reason: the attack might be the same (one-two, one-two, rinse, repeat), but the strikes aren’t, and she’s used to switching them up as she sets up either a punch-entry, clinch-entry, or at range (where she’s a lot less effective, granted); made better by what appears to be a timely jab when she chambers one. Beyond that, I take no issue with your description. Andrade was born amidst salt and smoke. And this is one ham that won’t be easy to carve up. Insight from past fights David: This is a tough one. I think Torres-Andrade is a great foundation for what to expect mechanically, at least. In it you saw where Andrade could be defeated. Torres was able to land crushing right hands, and pivot out of danger for stretches of their fight. Meanwhile, Andrade was able to rush through them enough to land takedowns, and takeover as the fight wore on. A few things. One, Namajunas won’t have to move as much because she has the natural length over someone like Torres. Two, Rose is much better at sustaining distance not just because she’s taller, but because she has more strikes to threaten with, making her movements less predictable. So I expect this to be a tale of two fights: the first two and a half rounds in which Rose maintains her distance, and second half, in which Rose has to backpedal effectively. Phil: The two ones here are clearly Jedrzejczyk-Andrade, laying out the blueprint for how Rose can stick and move, and Namajunas-Kowalkiewicz, which shows how vulnerable Rose can be once someone closes in and locks up with her.<doc-sep>The UFC 237 start time, TV schedule for the Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade fight card at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday night. The fight card is broken into three different parts and airing on three different mediums. This post will help explain which fights are airing where and at which times. Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET) Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade Jared Cannonier vs. Anderson Silva Jose Aldo vs. Alexander Volkanovski Thiago Alves vs. Laureano Staropoli Irene Aldana vs. Bethe Correia The second portion of the show will be on at ESPN at 8 p.m. ET. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Spann Thiago Moises vs. Kurt Holobaugh Warlley Alves vs. Sergio Moraes B.J. Penn vs. Clay Guida The show will kick off on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET. Luana Carolina vs. Priscila Cachoeira Raoni Barcelos vs. Carlos Huachin Talita Bernardo vs. Viviane Araujo<doc-sep>
The UFC is back in Brazil for the first time since February. UFC 237, in Rio de Janeiro, is headlined by a UFC strawweight title fight between Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade. For Namajunas, this is her first trip to the cage since April 7th, 2018, where she defended her strawweight title for the very first time (against former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk). Andrade has only been a little more active; she beat Karolina Koawlkiewicz via knockout at UFC 228 in September, 2018 to earn the second UFC title fight of her career. Her first title shot came versus then-Joanna Champion in 2017. She lost that fight via a one-sided decision. Will Andrade strike gold this time or will Namajunas prove she’s going to be champ for the long haul? The co-main event is a bizarre match-up between oft-considered GOAT Anderson Silva and rising (?) middleweight Jared Cannonier. Before that another Brazilian icon/former belt-holder takes the stage; Jose Aldo. He’s competing for another crack at his old featherweight throne, but standing in his way is the rising (!) Alexander Volkanovski. Also on the PPV card, for some reason, is a welterweight fight between Thiago Alves and Laureano Staropoli. The card was supposed to feature Francisco Trinaldo vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira in a probably exciting lightweight fight, but Ferreira’s kidneys had other ideas. So instead, opening the PPV is Irena Aldana vs. Bethe Correia (which is at catchweight thanks to Correia badly missing weight), The prelim card starts at 8PM ET and is on ESPN for U.S. viewers. Remarkably, it’s being headlined by the 42-year-old Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. He meets Ryan Spann at 205lbs. Also on the card is Thiago Moises vs. Kurt Holobaugh (lightweight), Warlley Alves vs. Sergio Moraes (welterweight), and B.J. Penn vs. Clay Guida (lightweight). The early Fight Pass prelims start at 6:30PM ET. The ‘headline’ bout of that portion of the event features Mario Yamasaki’s least favourite fighter Priscila Cachoeira, who takes on Luana Carolina at flyweight. Also on the early prelims is Raoni Barcelos vs. Carlos Huachin (bantamweight), and Talita Bernardo vs. Viviana Araujo (flyweight). Check out all the ways you can watch the action below: Tickets Seats at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio are still available and you can get those here. Online For U.S. residents the UFC 237 pay-per-view is exclusively available for purchase (for $59.99) on the streaming service ESPN+. They PPV begins at 10:00PM ET/7:00PM PT. For international viewers the PPV card can be purchased online through UFC.tv or UFC Fight Pass. Non-U.S. residents can also purchase the PPV on the UFC’s official YouTube channel. The early prelim card begins at 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT. For U.S. residents, this content is available on ESPN+. For the rest of the world it is available on Fight Pass. Television The prelims will air on ESPN in the US (TSN 5 in Canada), beginning at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. TV streaming services Apple TV, LG Smart Apps, Amazon FireTV, and Samsung Apps offer the UFC.TV app, will give you access to UFC.TV where you can order the PPV (if you are not in the U.S.). Outside the U.S. the PPV is also available for purchase through Xbox Live and PlayStation Events (through their dedicated gaming consoles). Tablet/Mobile Non U.S. residents with Android or Apple devices can watch the UFC 237 PPV on apps available at the Google Play and iTunes stores (purchase of the PPV is required). Bars