Rose Namajunas celebrates a win in the UFC (Image credit: Getty)
Rose Namajunas was set to face Zhang Weili for the UFC Women’s Strawweight title but seemed to have backed out
The UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, Zhang Weili, is set to defend her title against former champion Rose Namajunas next year.
That should be a fight for the ages as Thug Rose is one of the best in the history of the women’s division. However, Dana White suggested that Thug Rose wasn’t interested in a title fight and he was planning to set up Zhang vs Carla Esparza.
That would be a decent fight too but it wouldn’t have the weight that Rose vs Zhang carries. It also is a bit of a shock given that Rose is always looking for a fight and it is extremely weird that a top contender would want to give up on a shot at the title.
However, Pat Barry, the fiancé and coach of Namajunas, was asked about this by ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani.
Barry dismissed such rumours of Rose backing out of the clash and went on to say that they are willing to clear up such confusion:
Zhang had an incredible fight for the belt as she defended her title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Joanna also picked up some serious head injuries while the fight is considered as a runner for the best of the year.
Rose vs Zhang could also follow in that same vein. Namajunas defeated her arch-nemesis, Jessica Andrade, in her last fight and she seems to be in great touch.
Zhang, for her part, has only lost one fight in her career and it will be interesting to see how this battle goes.
Mackenzie Dern, who is also coming off an impressive win at UFC 256, also had her prediction for this fight.
While she claimed both stars have bits going for them, Dern was backing Namajunas to claim the title from Zhang.
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