UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas has the chance to avenge a loss she took in her promotional debut later this year, meeting Carla Esparza in the co-main event of UFC 274 on May 7th.
News of the fight was first reported by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. The matchup is expected to take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Namajunas first met Esparza back in 2014 in a title fight. This bout came in the grand final of Season 20 of UFC reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter.”
The grand prize of that “TUF” season was the winner being crowned the inaugural UFC Strawweight Champion. Esparza prevailed in that fight, securing a third-round rear naked choke win to claim the belt.
Namajunas, who was also a champ from 2017 to 2019, gained the belt last year with a head kick knockout win over Zhang Weili. She met Zhang once more later that year, defeating her via split decision in that appearance.
Esparza is getting the title fight after a strong winning streak from 2019 to 2021. The former titleholder has scored five wins in this time, beating high-level names like Marina Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan.
A lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje is the current main event for UFC 274. Here is how the show looks now:
Bout 10: Charles Oliveira (32-8) vs. Justin Gaethje (23-3) (UFC Lightweight Championship)
Bout 9: Rose Namajunas (11-4) vs. Carla Esparza (18-6) (UFC Strawweight Championship)
Bout 8: Macy Chiasson (7-2) vs. Norma Dumont (7-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 7: Blagoy Ivanov (18-4) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (19-7-1) (Heavyweight)
Bout 6: Kleydson Rodrigues (7-1) vs. CJ Vergara (9-3-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 5: Donald Cerrone (36-16) vs. Joe Lauzon (28-15) (Lightweight)
Bout 4: Journey Newson (9-3) vs. Fernie Garcia (10-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Brandon Royval (13-6) vs. Matt Schnell (15-6) (Flyweight)
Bout 2: Michael Chandler (22-7) vs. Tony Ferguson (25-6) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Tracy Cortez (9-1) vs. Melissa Gatto (8-0-2) (Flyweight)
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