Weili Zhang and Rose Namajunas will serve up a tasty appetizer for the main event of 261, as they duke it out for the women’s strawweight belt. Will Zhang have success defending her title for the second time? Or will Rose Namajunas take back what was once hers? Check out our preview of this fight below.
Somebody remind Zhang that she’s not undefeated, though, it’s entirely okay with us if she has totally forgotten about her only loss so far in her MMA career. That was way back in his debut in 2013. Since then, Zhang has racked up 21 wins in a row. Since entering the UFC in 2018, Zhang has gone 5-0 with a TKO win, a submission victory, and three unanimous decision triumphs. After destroying Jessica Andrade via a 42-second knockout in 2019 to snatch the title away, Zhang needed five rounds to successfully defend the belt against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2020. Zhang will rely on her striking skills to fend off Namajunas. It’s not just that she’s a busy striker, as Zhang is averaging 6.38 significant strikes landed per minute, but she’s also got serious power in those fists. In fact, she has scored 10 knockout wins and hasn’t been knocked out. That doesn’t mean Zhang can’t get the job done on the ground, as she is also 7-0 in fights that ended in submissions
Namajunas is out to recapture the title she lost to Andrade in 2019. She has already avenged that loss last year when he earned a split decision win over Andrade during the main card of UFC 251 but now is her chance to fully go full circle. Namajunas is known for her versatility. She can throw strikes with her excellent boxing skills, but she’s also game if the fight gets taken down to the mat. For one, she has six submission wins. There was also a time when she had three submission wins over a stretch of four fights. Zhang is a potent striker, but expect Namajunas to use her two-inch reach advantage to keep the champion at a distance while scoring points of her own. Zhang will also have to watch out for Namajunas’s takedown attempts. Thug Rose owns a high 53 percent takedown accuracy, while Zhang only has success in that 23 percent of the time. Zhang will look to attack and pressure Namajunas, but the latter seems to be well-equipped to defend herself and counter
