Quotes from Jessica Andrade

When it's time to fight, we're professionals. It's our jobs and careers. Respect must always exist.

Tecia is a tough opponent, both standing and on the ground, and has evolved a lot. She hits hard and can take a punch.

My mom loved when I started training judo and jiu-jitsu because that wasn't hurting me. But when I took her for my first MMA fight, she was like, 'Baby, you're not really going to do this, right? To get punched in the face, please stop with that. Do jiu-jitsu, it's good, it won't get you hurt.'

I never tried forcing anyone to understand me. Everybody has their own opinion. But I will always be happy the way I am.

Thank God I was able to buy my mom a house, switched cars, and bought myself a house.

It's true, I said I would never go down to 115 because I thought I wouldn't be able to make the weight, but thank God we started working on that.

Thank God now I'm able to take care of my mom, my house, help my teammates.

When we go through rough situations in life and reach the top, we thank God we had to go through all that.

Sometimes we have to sell UFC clothes, backpack, gloves, stuff like that, to make some extra money to finish a camp. It's quite difficult, but we go on.

When someone truly believes she can be the champion, go for it.

I've fought a lot of good girls and I think Valentina is one level above any other.

It's sad that we have to sell our training gear, things we get in fights that are a good memory of what we had there, but we'll get new stuff later.

I'm poor just like everybody else. If someone kidnaps me, they're getting nothing but a candy, a gum.

The day I retire, I want other women to look at me and say: 'Man, Jessica was awesome, funny and a lesbian. She threw so many punches and brought us lots of joy.'

Height doesn't mean everything.

Cris is fighter that I look up to, my style if very similar to hers. I like to go there, walk straight forward and beat someone, so it was great to hear people comparing me to Cyborg.

The strategy to beat Shevchenko would be to work non-stop and be all over her, striking the entire time, grabbing her to tire her out, and then work a different game plan on the next rounds. I think that's the best strategy to beat Shevchenko, but anything can change when the time comes.

A fighter who is gay and a champion can make a huge difference in the lives of people who are afraid to come out, afraid of what their parents might think, afraid of what could happen to them.

I will respect anyone who thinks differently, but I know what I have in my heart and only God can judge me. If everybody took care of their own lives only we would have less prejudice in this world.

I wasn't feeling well when I fought Joanna. I couldn't train the last few weeks because of a shoulder injury. I couldn't hold Joanna down.

We have coaches to pay, trainers, different sparring partners. There's a cost.

If they want me against Jessica Eye, that's great. I will watch her fights and train hard to do another exciting fight for the fans.

I don't like to talk trash. I'm a cool girl.

You see, where I'm from, fighting is simply not a 'girl's thing.' In Umuarama, I grew up playing football, which to my family was also not a girl's thing, to be honest. Playing football was my biggest passion. I wanted to be on TV, to be just like Marta. I even had a knack for it.