Jessica Andrade, former UFC strawweight champion, has been picking up delivery shifts and taking on home renovation jobs around Las Vegas to keep money coming in while recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Brazilian star, who won the 115-pound (52 kg) title in 2019, opened up about her financial situation during a recent appearance on the Direto de Vegas podcast. Four months removed from surgery on a shoulder that had been dislocating repeatedly during training and competition, Andrade has been finding ways to keep income flowing.
“When needed, I work as a delivery driver, I go there to deliver lunch boxes, things like that,” she said. “You pick it up through the app and you go about doing it, you make the deliveries and that’s how it goes. I manage somehow. I’m not lazy when it comes to work. I can handle anything.”
Deliveries have been only part of the picture. Andrade recently took on a full landscaping and renovation project at a friend’s home, teaching herself the work through YouTube tutorials before the job began.
“I started a project to put in grass. They had a backyard, it was just rocks,” she said. “I removed all the stones from the ground. I said, ‘I’m going to give it a try. If I’m good at this, it’ll be another thing we can supplement if we’re short on cash.'”
She went well beyond laying turf. “We put down artificial grass, I put up a fence for them, then we painted the whole garage, we painted the outside. We just installed a pool, I’ve already put the pool motor in place. I said, ‘Wouldn’t you know it, I have a knack for these kinds of things too.'”
The work came with an unexpected physical therapy benefit. “The issue of picking up the stones, removing the stones from there, that helped me a lot with my shoulder. When I arrived at physical therapy to do the exercises, I would say, ‘Easy.'”
The neighbor’s response was immediate. “Her niece came up to me and said, ‘Jessica, was it you who put this grass here?’ I said, ‘A good portion of them, yes.’ Then she said, ‘How much do you charge to put it at my house too?'”
Andrade had surgery on February 26 after months of the joint dislocating and retracting during training and matches. She says she is now at 99.8 percent recovery and has been cleared this week to begin kicking drills and shadow boxing, with a return to full contact sparring expected within weeks.
The 35-year-old, who has competed across three UFC weight classes, is targeting a return to competition in October or November. She is intent on leaving three consecutive losses behind her.
“Now with this new shoulder, everything will be different,” she said. “Jessica the knockout artist is back again.”
[Editor’s Note: Quotes have been translated and edited for clarity and readability.]
