The learning curve has grown exponentially steeper for
Erin
Blanchfield.
The onetime Eddie Bravo Invitational winner will square off with
former
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight titleholder
Jessica
Andrade in the
UFC Fight Night 219 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. Blanchfield enters the cage on the strength of a
seven-fight winning streak. She last fought at UFC 281, where she
disposed of
Molly
McCann with a kimura in the second round of their Nov. 12
pairing. A short-notice replacement for
Taila
Santos, Andrade has won three fights in a row. The Parana Vale
Tudo cornerstone last competed on Jan. 21, when she routed
Lauren
Murphy in a woefully one-sided three-round unanimous decision
at UFC 283.
As Blanchfield and Andrade make final preparations in advance of
their forthcoming battle, a look at some of the numbers that have
accompanied them to this point:
23: Years of age for Blanchfield, who was born on May 4, 1999 in
Elmwood Park, New Jersey.
3: Blanchfield victories by submission, accounting for 30% of her
career total (10). Her methods of choice: one kimura, one
guillotine choke and one keylock. Blanchfield owns two other
victories by knockout or technical knockout (20%) and five more by
decision (50%).
120: Significant strikes landed by Blanchfield in her three-round
unanimous decision over
Sarah Alpar
at UFC Fight Night 192 on Sept. 18, 2021. It established a personal
high-water mark for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt that stands
to this day.
5: Consecutive calendar years in which Blanchfield has fought as a
mixed martial artist. She went 3-0 in 2018, 1-1 in 2019, 2-0 in
2020, 2-0 in 2021 and 2-0 in 2022.
.688: Cumulative winning percentage between the four women—McCann,
Alpar,
J.J. Aldrich
and
Miranda
Maverick—Blanchfield has beaten as a member of the UFC roster.
They boast a combined record of 44-20.
31: Years of age for Andrade, who was born on Sept. 25, 1991 in
Umuarama, Brazil.
9: Andrade wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
38% of her career total (24). Her list of UFC victims:
Cynthia
Calvillo,
Katlyn
Chookagian,
Rose
Namajunas,
Karolina
Kowalkiewicz and
Jessica
Penne. Andrade holds eight other wins by submission (33%) and
seven more by decision (29%).
74: Seconds needed for Andrade to put away
Juliana
Silva with a guillotine choke at Ring of Fire 4 on Aug. 28,
2012. More than a decade later, it remains the fastest finish of
her career.
42: Rounds completed by Andrade across her 33 professional
appearances. She has gone the distance on 10 different occasions
and carries a 7-3 record in those bouts.
144: Combined victories between the nine women—
Valentina
Shevchenko,
Rose
Namajunas,
Weili
Zhang,
Joanna
Jedrzejczyk,
Raquel
Pennington,
Marion
Reneau,
Liz
Carmouche,
Jennifer
Maia and
Kinberly
Tanaka Novaes—who have defeated Andrade. They sport a .725
cumulative winning percentage at 144-54-2.