Jessica Andrade vs. Natalia Silva is our prediction for UFC Vegas 97 Fight of the Night

After a week-long break, the UFC returns to action on Saturday with UFC Vegas 97 at the UFC APEX, topped by a potential welterweight barnburner between former title challenger Gilbert Burns and surging prospect Sean Brady. However, there is another fight that deserves special mention here: the co-main between former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade and fast-rising Natalia Silva.

By this point, everyone knows what to expect of Andrade: non-stop high-octane violence. Beginning her career as a bantamweight, she immediately established herself as an undersized (5'2") yet ferocious bulldog who loved to finish fights, usually by T/KO.

Such a vicious reputation got her signed to the UFC in 2013, where she drew inaugural title challenger Liz Carmouche in her Octagon debut. Needless to say, the physical disparities showed. Andrade was outmuscled and finished within two rounds. Andrade managed to win her next three fights, but something was different. The first two wins represented the first times she had gone the distance in triumph. And against future champion Raquel Pennington, she barely got away with a split decision.

She went 1-2 in 2015, sandwiching a decision win over Sarah Moras between submission losses to Marion Reneau and Pennington. It was clear that the lack of size was hurting her prospects in the bantamweight division, and something had to change. A month after the loss to Pennington, Andrade announced that she would be dropping to the then-nascent strawweight division. She had initially called such a move "too much" when speaking to MMA Fighting before her submission defeat of Larissa Pacheco, but her rough stretch apparently prompted her to change her mind.

The transition proved just as easy as her first fight 20 pounds south. Former title challenger Jessica Penne offered virtually no resistance at all and had to be saved by the referee halfway through the second round.

A submission of Joanne Calderwood and a decision over Angela Hill later, Andrade was being hailed as the best challenger available for dominant then-champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. But when the two met at UFC 211, the ferocious bulldog in her was nowhere to be seen, as she was stymied, thwarted, and countered at every turn, dropping a lopsided unanimous decision. Even a later bobus-winning decision win over compatriot and fellow former title challenger Claudia Gadelha did little to bolster her chances of a rematch, but then something happened.

At UFC 217, Jedrzejczyk shockingly lost the title to Rose Namajunas. Suddenly, the division was wide open. Multiple contenders, including Andrade, now had a believable case to be next in line. But the UFC, still reeling from the outcome, decided to book an immediate rematch that Namajunas would eventually win. That would prove no problem for Andrade, who outscored Tecia Torres and knocked out Karolina Kowalkiewicz to secure her second title shot - in Brazil, in the main event of UFC 237. This time, she would not be denied, capturing the belt via slam off a kimura counter.

Alas, her reign would be short-lived. The UFC's Shenzhen card needed a main event, and she agreed to defend against the fast-rising Weili Zhang. She was finished within the first minute of the fight. More than nine months later, she dropped a decision against Namajunas - the first losing streak of her career.

WMMA is on display with Jessica Andrade vs. Natalia Silva on UFC Vegas 97

Undeterred, Andrade went 10 pounds north against Katlyn Chookagian and won by vicious body-punch KO. That gave her an immediate tile shot against Valentina Shevchenko. It did not go well - she was dominated early on and finished with elbows in the second round.

Since then, she has been bouncing around between strawweight and flyweight, with her nomadic stint producing some impressive highs (defeating Amanda Lemos with the first standing arm-triangle submission in UFC history) and unspeakable lows (losing three straight fights in 2023). This week, coming off two straight wins at strawweight, she goes 10 pounds north once more against the fast-rising Silva.

Silva began her MMA career in 2015 on a rather low note, losing three of her first four fights. She was better in 2016 and 2017, but only marginally - 5-2-1, including a loss to future top UFC strawweight Marina Rodriguez. But since then, she has been unstoppable, winning 11 straight fights. A title reign at Jungle Fight wherein she finished both her opponents by armbar got her a UFC contract in 2020, but injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed her debut until 2022, when she dominated Jasmine Jasudavicius. But she did not cement her current reputation until her next two fights, which she ended by TKO.

Two more wins later, and now Silva will seek the biggest win of her career and officially enter herself into the championship conversation. But it will not come easy. Andrade wants one last title run at either 115 or 125, and holding off another young prospect will only solidify that.