VIDEO | Claudia Gadelha couldn’t believe Jessica Andrade’s strength, says it was like ‘a 125 guy’

“Jessica [Andrade] is very, very strong. I was very surprised with her strength. I compare her to a 125 [pound] guy when it comes to strength and power. And I never felt that before so I was very surprised.

I think I am way better than her technically but she’s just so much stronger and that’s where it made her win the fight.

I think she is special. I don’t know what she did growing up but I [have] never felt that strength in any other woman. I mean, any strawweight. Even flyweights, you know. I feel the same strength in the guys, the 125 guys. So I don’t know what she’s doing…I don’t know what special thing she’s doing or did growing up.

I don’t think [anybody] can get that strong…I don’t know, I don’t know what it is.”

The last time that we saw one of the strawweight division’s all-time best, Claudia Gadelha it was an unfamiliar sight. Instead of doing the imposing and dominating, she was on the receiving end of it.

Her opponent was the top-ranked former and likely future title challenger, Jessica Andrade. Andrade defeated Gadelha by unanimous decision and outmuscled her with her grappling throughout the 15-minute affair.

Both are known as the strongest fighters in their division, therefore no one expected it to be as lopsided as it was. Obviously, that includes Gadelha.

Gadelha is just a week away from her fight with Carla Esparza at UFC 225 on June 9th, it’s a fight that has been years in the making dating back to their days in Invicta.

Meanwhile, after back to back dominations over Gadelha and Tecia Torres, Andrade finds herself waiting on the sidelines for what should be a second attempt to capture UFC gold. This time it would come against Rose Namajunas rather than the former champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

To say that Gadelha and Jedrzejczyk have some history with one another is putting it mildly. After being asked about the Namajunas vs Jedrzejczyk fights, Gadelha offered up her thoughts on the new champion and her old rival.

“[Rose] is getting better every day, I think she kind of got Joanna’s game now. I think if she fights Joanna 10 times she’d beat Joanna 10 times.”

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/30/2018.