UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas will reportedly defend her title against Carla Esparza next in a rematch years in the making at UFC 274.
News of the booking was first reported by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated.
Namajunas is coming off of back-to-back wins over Zhang Weili in 2021, including most recently in an immediate title rematch at UFC 268. She reclaimed UFC gold by knocking Weili out with a head kick at UFC 261.
Namajunas has won three straight fights since losing her strawweight title to Jéssica Andrade at UFC 237, before getting revenge against Andrade in a non-title bout at UFC 251.
Esparza makes her return to the strawweight title fight following five-straight wins. She most recently earned a dominant second-round submission of Yan Xiaonan last May after winning a close split decision over Marina Rodriguez.
Esparza won the then-vacant strawweight championship following a win over Namajunas on The Ultimate Fighter 20. She went on to lose to Joanna Jędrzejczyk in her first title defense at UFC 185.
Namajunas hasn’t had many stumbles since the loss to Esparza. She has earned dominant wins over Jędrzejczyk, Paige VanZant, and Michelle Waterson, to name a few.
UFC 274 will be headlined by a lightweight title bout between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. It’s expected that Namajunas vs. Esparza 2 will serve as the co-main event.
UFC 274 will take place in Phoenix, AZ at the Footprint Center on May 7. UFC president Dana White has recently hinted that the winner of the matchup will face Rodriguez for the next title bout.
What is your prediction for Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza 2?
