Rose Namajunas will defend her strawweight title in a rematch with Weili Zhang when the UFC makes its long-awaited return to New York on November 6.
The duo will run it back in the co-main event of UFC 268, the promotion announced during Saturday’s UFC Vegas 35 broadcast. The announcement comes after Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera was yesterday added to the stacked Madison Square Garden card.
Namajunas spectacularly knocked out Zhang at UFC 261 in April to reclaim the strawweight title. She previously held the belt from November 2017 to May 2019, defending it once against Joanna Jedrzejczuk, before losing to Jessica Andrade.
For Zhang, the loss against Namajunas snapped her 21-fight unbeaten streak in what was her second title defense. “Magnum” had won the belt in August 2019 with a TKO of Jessica Andrade, before defending the title against Joanna Jedrzejczuk.
The matchup will be the first of two title rematches at UFC 268, with Usman vs. Covington 2 featuring as the main event. The UFC also announced a lightweight matchup featuring Al Iaquinta and Bobby Green, and a women’s bantamweight bout between Germaine de Randamie and Irene Aldana.
With the addition of this bout, here is the updated line-up for the pay-per-view:
UFC Welterweight Championship bout: Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Colby Covington
UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship bout: Rose Namajunas (c) vs. Weili Zhang
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler
Sean Strickland vs. Luke Rockhold
Frankie Edgard vs. Marlon Vera
Germaine de Randamie vs. Irene Aldana
Al Iaquinta vs Bobby Green
Will Namajunas make it 2-0 against Zhang Weili at UFC 268?
