UFC 261 co-main event
The fight will take place on the night from Saturday to Sunday, April 25. Estimated start of the battle at 06:30 Kyiv time. The fight will be broadcast live on Setanta Sports.
Next Sunday, the UFC will once again be watched by a full hall of fans. 15,000 MMA fans will be watching UFC 261 in person at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, with masks not required indoors. In the main event of the evening, promotional welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will have a rematch with Jorge Masvidal, but in addition to that, two more title fights will take place at UFC 261.
In the co-main event, Rose Namajunas will attempt to regain the UFC strawweight title by taking on reigning champion Weili Zhang.
Zhang will hold the second defense of the belt. The Chinese, who has been undefeated in MMA since her debut in 2013, won the title in August 2019 with a first-round knockout of Jessica Andrade. In March 2020, Waili defended her belt in one of the best fights of the year, defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk by split decision.
On the account of Namajunas there is also a victory over Jedrzejczyk, and two at once. In November 2017, she quickly knocked out the Polish woman, becoming the owner of the UFC title in the category up to 115 pounds. Then she beat her on points in an immediate rematch, and in May 2019, Namajunas was knocked out by a spectacular slam performed by Jessica Andrade. Rose closed the defeat 14 months later in a rematch with Andrade, defeating the Brazilian who had already lost the title by a split decision.
Prediction for the fight
Zhang is a striker with good speed, stamina and a strong chin. Namajunas is more versatile, she is a good grappler with decent punching technique.
We believe that the fight will take place in the standing position with the active work of the champion as the first number. Much will depend on the actions of Namajunas on the counterattacks. She is a very technical striker and can successfully counter. It will probably be a very difficult fight for the side judges, but we prefer Namajunas due to the greater efficiency.
Namajunas win on points
Main card
Kamaru Usman – Jorge Masvidal
Zhang Weili – Rose Namajunas
Valentina Shevchenko – Jessica Andrade
Chris Wideman Uriah Hall
Anthony Smith – Jimmy Cool
preliminary card
Alex Oliveira – Randy Brown
Dwight Grant – Stefan Sekulich
Brandon Allen – Carl Roberson
Tristan Connelly – Pat Sabatini
Danaa Batgerel – Kevin Natividad
Rodrigo Vargas – Zu Rong
Jeff Molina Keeleng Ori
Ariana Carnelossi – Na Liang
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