Jessica Andrade is going back up a division.
The former UFC strawweight champion is taking another crack at flyweight as she’s been booked to fight Lauren Murphy on Jan. 21 at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report by MMA Fighting on Tuesday.
Andrade (23-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC) is coming off an impressive submission win over Amanda Lemos back in April in the main event of UFC Fight Night 205. Her finish was the first-ever standing arm triangle submission win in the history of the UFC. The bout was also Andrade’s return to 115 pounds following a short 2-1 run at flyweight where she challenged and lost to champion Valentina Shevchenko.
With the booking against Murphy, the Brazilian is making a second move up to 125 pounds.
Murphy (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) will attempt to add another former UFC champion to her resume. Murphy last fought in July whern she spoiled former UFC and Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate’s debut at 125 pounds. That performance was a bounce-back win from her defeat to Shevchenko back in September 2021. Murphy is 6-1 since 2019 with her only defeat to Shevchenko.
With the addition, the UFC 283 lineup includes:
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno – for flyweight title
- Jessica Andrade vs. Lauren Murphy
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Mounir Lazzez
- Zarah Fairn vs. Josiane Nunes
- Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brad Tavares
- Ihor Potieria vs. Mauricio Rua
- Paul Craig vs. Johnny Walker