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Cape Town - For many the focus at UFC 199 would be the heated rivalries that are set top off a stacked card which top to bottom has some very important fights.
One of those being the women's strawweight bout which features a returning Jessica Penne who takes on Jessica Andrade. Should Penne come out the winner she could find herself back in title contention according to MMALatestNews.com.
Penne (12-3) was last seen nearly a year to the day challenging Joanna Jedrzejczyk for her UFC strawweight title in Germany. While the 33-year old Californian may have fallen short on that night being a former champion prior to her stint on 'The Ultimate Fighter' she knows full well there will always be more opportunities to get back on the horse. Penne was the first Invicta FC Atomweight champion after defeating Naho Sugiyama in October 2012.
While surgery to her nose has kept her out of the cage for nearly a year since her title fight in Germany the No. 3 ranked strawweight in the world is ready to get back to winning ways which in the past led her to glory. Penne who has a decade of experience under her belt has battled and beaten some the worlds finest women's fighters in Randa Markos, Lisa Ellis, Angela Magana, and Naho Sugiyama. With 9 of her 12 wins coming by way of stoppage (7 submissions & 2 KO's) Penne has the tools to get herself back into the title picture at 115-pounds.
Her focus now is on a very experienced and bigger fighter in Jessica Andrade (13-5) who like Penne has the majority of her wins via submission. The 5-year veteran will be making her eighth walk out to Octagon and after dropping two of her last three fights will be looking to impress come fight night.
A win over the tough and very durable Andrade would be a step in the right direction for Penne who fights in her own "backyard" on Saturday.
"There's no hesitation. Honestly, I'm game to fight anyone. I really wanted to fight in my backyard, so they said this is the name if you want to do that, and I said OK."
