One of the biggest women’s fights of the year will get a part two. Tonight at UFC Vegas 35, the promotion announced that we will see a strawweight title rematch in November at UFC 268 as Rose Namajunas (10-4) will defend her title against Zhang Weili (21-2).
These two ladies first fought back in April at UFC 261. The card was the first PPV card with a full crowd and their first fight was one of the most highly anticipated female fights in the promotion’s history.
Zhang Weili looked like she was going to reign over the strawweight division for a long time. The first UFC champion born in China had dominated virtually every opponent that stood in her way on her way to capturing the title.
She won the Fight of The Year in 2020 when she defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her first title defense. However, UFC 261 was going to be her toughest fight to date. Many had looked at Rose Namajunas as the best in the world when she was truly focused on fighting.
Well, Namajunas was focused at UFC 261. Zhang Weili was just feeling out the fight in the opening 90 seconds when she was met with a brutal head kick that put her out. Namajunas became the first woman to regain a UFC title after losing it.
Second UFC reign for Namajunas
The journey of Rose Namajunas has been something to see inside the UFC. Namajunas was first introduced via The Ultimate Fighter when the promotion held the show to crown a 115 pound champion.
While Namajunas was looked at as a favorite, she lost in the finals to Carla Esparza. Following that loss, Namajunas focused on improving and she gradually rose to the top of the UFC’s strawweight division.
She pulled off a massive upset when she knocked out and dethroned Joanna Jedrzejczyk to become the strawweight champion. She proved she was the best by beating Jedrzejczyk in an immediate rematch.
Namajunas finds herself in virtually the same position now. She knocked out Zhang Weili at UFC 261 and now she’s fighting her in an immediate rematch. It’ll be interesting to see if history repeats itself in November.