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The 115-pound Brazilian has strung together five straight wins in her talent-rich division. Jandiroba (22-3) currently has no fight announced, but if she had it her way, she would fight at UFC Rio in October. Feeling she has done enough at least for an interim belt, Jandiroba would like little more than to rematch Mackenzie Dern for the title. The promotion has suggested but not made official Weili Zhang’s relocation to flyweight to try to become a two-division champ, and Jandiroba wants to pounce on that possibility.
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Lately, the organization has not permitted fighters to attempt to become simultaneous two-division beltholders any longer. Names like Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev were denied the ability to hang onto their previous strap while vying for another, as those athletes were forced to vacate their featherweight and lightweight crowns, respectively, to move up. Jandiroba believes that the same will be done for Zhang should she go to flyweight to take on Valentina Shevchenko.
Speaking to Sherdog on Wednesday, the Brazilian is ready for what’s next, saying, “It’s not official, but it looks like Zhang will go up to face Valentina for the flyweight belt, so I hope [the] UFC puts me against some other girl to dispute the vacant belt or interim belt.”
Competing on Home Soil Would Be Ideal for Brazil’s Jandiroba
Virna made it clear that she will be ready for any decision the UFC takes, but fighting at the upcoming UFC Rio card in October would achieve a life goal.
“Of course, my priority is to fight for the belt, but I never fought in Brazil [as a UFC fighter, so] to dispute that title in Rio would be like a dream. UFC already did belt disputes in Fight Nights, for example when Zhang fought Jessica [Andrade] in China.”
The top echelon of the division is generally otherwise scheduled. Tatiana Suarez was just announced as battling Amanda Lemos at Noche UFC. Former foe Andrade will take on Lupita Godinez at UFC 319. With Jandiroba recently overcoming Yan Xiaonan, she feels the promotion will match her a second time against vaunted grappler Mackenzie Dern, who already defeated her in 2020.
“Our first fight was really even and had a lot of controversy in the result,” the Brazilian stated. “[Now that] we both evolved a lot in the last five years, I’m sure it would be a totally different fight. Unfortunately, I cannot give you details about my strategy, once it’s pretty probable fight, but all I can say is that today I would believe much more in my jiu-jitsu.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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