Half a year after their first encounter, UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas and former titleholder Zhang Weili will meet in a rematch. Their second meeting will take place at the UFC 268 pay-per-view card, which is set to happen on November 6th at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.
The new title fight was announced during the UFC “Fight Night” broadcast on Saturday night.
Namajunas kicked off her second reign as champion in April, scoring a first-round head kick stoppage win over Zhang.
The victory kicked off Namajunas’ second title reign. She had previously gained the belt in 2017, defending it once before dropping it to Jessica Andrade in 2019.
Zhang’s first run as champ kicked off in 2019 when she dethroned Andrade in just 42 seconds. Her sole title defense was in early 2020, where she fought five rounds for a unanimous decision win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The five-round battle was considered by many as the “Fight of the Year.”
UFC Confirms Two More Bouts For November
Two other bouts were confirmed for UFC 268 on Saturday night.
Bantamweights Germaine de Randamie and Irene Aldana will also appear on the card.
Aldana is coming off a first-round finish victory she earned over Yana Kunitskaya in July.
De Randamie will be competing for the first time in a year. She earned a submission win in her last bout, submitting Julianna Pena in October 2020.
New York’s own Al Iaquinta will make his return to action when facing veteran Bobby Green.
Iaquinta has been absent from the UFC cage since 2019. He has lost his past two bouts, not being favored on scorecards against Donald Cerrone and Dan Hooker.
Iaquinta’s last fight in the state of New York was in 2018, where he infamously stepped up on short notice and went five rounds against undefeated champ Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Green will also be looking to snap a two-fight skid, as he has recent losses to Thiago Moises and Rafael Fiziev.
Updated Lineup
The main event of UFC 268 is currently set to be a clash between UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Here’s the updated lineup:
Bout 8: Kamaru Usman (19-1) vs. Colby Covington (16-2) (UFC Welterweight Championship)
Bout 7: Rose Namajunas (10-4) vs. Zhang Weili (21-2) (UFC Strawweight Championship)
Bout 6: Justin Gaethje (22-3) vs. Michael Chandler (22-6) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Sean Strickland (24-3) vs. Luke Rockhold (16-5) (Middleweight)
Bout 4: Edmen Shahbazyan (11-2) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (10-3) (Middleweight)
Bout 3: Frankie Edgar (24-9-1) vs. Marlon Vera (19-7-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Germaine de Randamie (10-4) vs. Irene Aldana (13-6) (Bantamweight)
Bout 1: Al Iaquinta (14-6-1) vs. Bobby Green (27-12-1) (Lightweight)
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