Jessica Andrade will carry no animosity walking into her high-stakes scrap against Joanne Calderwood on Saturday.

In fact, she sees a lot of herself in her UFC 203 opponent. As far as Andrade (14-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is concerned, both she and fellow strawweight Calderwood (11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) seem like perfectly nice, likable people outside the octagon.

But it’s what they transform into upon entering it that, Andrade believes, made this matchup happen.

“I think Calderwood seems very nice,” Andrade told MMAjunkie ahead of their pay-per-view UFC 203 main card opener, which takes place Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. “She seems to be charismatic and nice. I think she’s probably like me – outside of the fight, we show ourselves as completely different people. But when we go in there, it’s about concentration, focus and showing what we’re there for, showing our work.”

“I think that’s why the UFC scheduled this fight – to see us burn the house down and sparks flying in there. They matched up two scary strikers for this duel.”

Given the aforementioned characteristics, Andrade’s assessment of the battle is a quite clear-cut one. While she has not neglected the other aspects of her game, Andrade also made no secret of what the focus was leading up to Saturday’s octagon outing.

“The fight could go to the ground,” Andrade said. “I don’t know what will happen. But the strategy, initially, is striking – working on boxing and muay Thai, blocking her, frustrating her game so she’s not able to impose it and maybe get a knockout in the first round.

“But if a submission comes, it will be great, too. I’ve been training both my ground game and my striking a lot, so it all depends on what happens there. I think sometimes we build a whole strategy and end up changing it after the first punch, so there’s a lot to happen.”

Andrade is also aware of what may be riding on a win over Calderwood, ranked No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings. An honorable mention in that same division, the former bantamweight impressed with her inaugural 115-pound appearance, blasting through Jessica Penne for a second-round TKO win.

Now, she can already see the glimmer of gold in the not-so-distant future.

“God has blessed my life a lot, and has helped me climb every step, one at a time,” Andrade said. “After this win, however, I think it will be time for my opportunity to fight for the belt and show a little more of who Jessica Andrade is – always respectful and hungry to make it up there and put on a good fight.

“I think after this fight I’ll try to ask for a title shot. It might not happen now. We never know what the UFC wants to do. But I know I’ll be well-ranked, and my chance will come. It can be now, or later, but it will be close. It will be very close. And I think the closest I’ve been I’ve been this far.”

Whether or not her belt plans materialize, Andrade has been trying to live up to her end of the bargain. So much that she says she has been living the gym – a decision meant to not only help the UFC strawweight achieve her dreams of gold, but also inspire her teammates who wish to follow in her footsteps.

Andrade might have higher aspirations in the UFC. But that doesn’t mean she’s not happy with where she’s at right now.

“Thankfully the UFC sees – I was able to show a little bit more about myself,” Andrade said. “I think I’m being able to showcase my work better, and I think the UFC can see that now. And they’re giving me the opportunity to stay active.

“This weight descent was very important for my career. I did it very well, I’m very strong and very quick. I’ve been able to impose my boxing. My hands got very quick and the strength remains the same. I think I had some ups and downs at 135, with losses and wins, but I think I found myself. I’m in the right division.”

And the somewhat drastic 20-pound drop, Andrade said, turned out to be a lot easier than expected.

“My one concern was not making weight, but thankfully I did it smoothly,” Andrade said. “I didn’t need to do sauna or the tub, anything of that sort (against Penne). And I arrived very well-prepared. Hopefully, it will be the same with this next one.”

Andrade’s striking-driven strategy for Saturday’s matchup is anything but unclear at this point. But what exactly are the tools the Brazilian strawweight has been honing in order to execute it?

The answer to that one is also pretty simple.

“Quick, strong hands and a sharp ground game,” Andrade said. “So that I’ll be ready for whatever happens and willing to do whatever needs to be done to win this fight.”

For more on UFC 203, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.