Weili Zhang vs. Rose Namajunas looks like it will be happening.
According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the eagerly-anticipated women’s strawweight title fight is being targeted for the UFC 261 pay-per-view taking place April 24.
The fight isn’t finalized as of yet, however, April 24 is the date all parties are targeting with the hope that it is complete in the coming days.
It will be the second women’s title fight added to the event after it was revealed earlier this week by UFC president Dana White that Valentina Shevchenko would defend her women’s flyweight title against Jessica Andrade.
It is not clear which fight would serve as the main event, but one would imagine Zhang vs. Namajunas would be the headliner.
As far as location is concerned, Helwani adds that the promotion was working on holding the event in Singapore, but it will now likely take place in Las Vegas at the Apex facility.
Zhang vs. Rose is “in the works” for April 24, multiple sources tell @arielhelwani. pic.twitter.com/Z4nQoqwoe1
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 26, 2021
Zhang Looking For Second Title Defense
It’s certainly the fight everyone wanted, especially as it seemed Namajunas would not be fighting Zhang at one point with Carla Esparza mentioned as a potential opponent for the champion.
And for Zhang, it’s the opportunity to add another former champion to her impressive resume. “Magnum” won the strawweight strap after a first-round TKO win over Andrade in 2019.
Zhang would successfully defend her title for the first time following a five-round war with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 in March last year.
Namajunas, meanwhile, returned to action in July last year when she outpointed Andrade via split decision. She was knocked out by Andrade the previous year and lost her strawweight title in the process.
She will undoubtedly be looking to become a two-time champion in the coming months.
