A strawweight championship rematch between Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang will take place at UFC 268. During their first encounter, Rose took the championship from Zhang by knocking her out at UFC 261.
While most fans didn’t believe Zhang should get an immediate rematch, reports confirm that their match will be added to an already stacked card. Even former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk stated that she would only return if she could receive a title shot, which she thought she was on her way to receiving.
Rose Namajunas vs Weili Zhang Rematch Announced for UFC 268
Fans believe that Carla Esparza deserved the chance after going on a five-fight win streak with numerous top contenders in the division. Nonetheless, Namajunas will face Weili on November 6th.
HOW 'BOUT THAT #UFC268 CARD?! 🔥
🏆 @Usman84kg vs. 🇺🇸 @ColbyCovMMA 2
🏆 @RoseNamajunas vs. 🇨🇳 @MMAWeili 2
💥 @Justin_Gaethje vs. 🧨 @MikeChandlerMMA pic.twitter.com/KXeOsnR4Iw— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 29, 2021
Stacked UFC 268 Card
Here’s the stacked UFC 268 card so far:
Welterweight Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Colby Covington
Women’s Strawweight Rose Namajunas (c) vs. Zhang Weili
Lightweight Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler
Middleweight Sean Strickland vs. Luke Rockhold
Women’s Bantamweight Germaine de Randamie vs. Irene Aldana
Bantamweight Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera
Lightweight Al Iaquinta vs. Bobby Green
UFC 261
Rose and Weili first met at UFC 261. At that time, Zhang was the UFC strawweight champion and riding an incredible 21 fight win streak since 2014. Namajunas and Zhang fought in front of 5,000 fans in the sold-out Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. During their co-main event, both ladies stepped into the center of the octagon and began their tactics immediately. Although Rose was an underdog according to Vegas odds, she defeated Zhang via a thunderous head kick.
The odds were stacked against Rose, coming off of a split decision victory over Jessica Andrade. This is primarily because of the fight prior when Andrade slammed Namajunas on her head in a “fight of the night” to lose her title.
Are fans excited for the championship rematch?
