Now she faces a ghost from her past as the woman who crushed her dreams as a young prospect returns, looking to do the same again. “Thug Rose” then faced Zhang in an immediate rematch the following November, and outpointed the Chinese contender over five rounds to retain her title and cement her position as the premier strawweight in the world. She avenged her loss to Andrade in a non-title fight at UFC 251, then knocked out Zhang Weili in the first round to recapture the title at UFC 261 in April last year. Namajunas, meanwhile, is back on top of the division after losing her title to Jessica Andrade in 2019. “The Cookie Monster” has quietly gone about her business and climbed the ranks of the strawweight division, which is a much more talent-stacked weight class than the one she helped introduce seven years ago.Įsparza heads into Saturday’s co-main event riding an impressive five-fight win streak with victories over Virna Jandiroba, Alexa Grasso, Michelle Waterson, Marina Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan putting her at the top of the contenders list at 115 pounds. Both have evolved significantly as fighters, with Namajunas becoming a two-time strawweight champion during that time.Įsparza, meanwhile, has steadily rebuilt her career after a losing her title in emphatic fashion to Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Namajunas has fought 11 times since that defeat, while Esparza has competed 12 times. In this case, however, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since their first bout.Įsparza finished Namajunas via third-round rear-naked choke way back in December 2014. Secondly, rematches often closely follow the first meeting. But on Saturday night it’ll be Namajunas who enters the fight as the defending champion. We’ll see what happens.” Gallery Carla Esparza def.World title rematches always capture the imagination, but Rose Namajunas’ reunion with Carla Esparza at UFC 274 offers something a little bit different.įor starters, the fighter holding the victory from the first fight is actually the challenger – Esparza’s victory over Namajunas in the TUF Finale saw her crowned the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion. “We’ll have to figure something else out. ![]() “I don’t think anyone is clamoring for that rematch,” White said. White said the next title challenger will likely come from that fight. ![]() Namajunas (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is now 0-2 against Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) after losing their first title fight seven-and-a-half years ago to conclude “The Ultimate Fighter 20,” and there’s a key women’s strawweight bout coming up at UFC 275 between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. White doesn’t believe an immediate trilogy is next. “I started zoning out like halfway through it.” White didn’t really have an opinion on if the rightful winner got her hand raised since he didn’t even score the fight. ![]() In the end, Esparza was awarded the victory, defeating Namajunas in a split decision with scores of 47-48, 49-46 and 48-47. I think they threw a total of six punches in the first round. The championship fight went the full distance and lacked action, making it tough to watch as both women were hesitant with their attacks. ![]() The UFC women’s strawweight title was up for grabs as Rose Namajunas looked to defend her belt in a rematch against Carla Esparza. PHOENIX – Like many watching from home, Dana White wasn’t too thrilled with the co-main event of UFC 274.
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