BREAKING: Rose Namajunas to defend her belt at UFC 237 against Jessica Andrade in Brazil
Rose Namajunas has her next title fight lined up. She is set to go into hostile territory when she goes to Brazil to take on Brazilian, Jessica Andrade at UFC 237 on May 11 according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Breaking: Rose Namajunas will defend her strawweight title against Jessica Andrade in enemy territory, at UFC 237 on May 11 in Brazil, per Dana White. More coming to @ESPN shortly. pic.twitter.com/7vgsbJ9mXG
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) January 8, 2019
“Breaking: Rose Namajunas will defend her strawweight title against Jessica Andrade in enemy territory, at UFC 237 on May 11 in Brazil, per Dana White,” Okamoto tweeted.
The fight will also serve as the co-main event according to Okamoto.
Ultimately, this will be Namajunas’ second chance to defend her title. She shocked the world by defeating Joanna Jędrzejczyk by first-round knockout at UFC 217 in November of 2017. She then fought Jędrzejczyk again at UFC 223 in Brooklyn where she narrowly defeated Jędrzejczyk by a decision to retain her belt.
However, since then, Namajunas has been out with a neck injury. As well, Namajunas was visibly shaken up at UFC 223 when Conor McGregor threw a dolly at the bus window. Ultimately, Namajunas escaped the attack without injury but was shaken up, and now will finally return to the Octagon.
Jessica Andrade meanwhile has been much more active. She was last seen at UFC 228 where she knocked out Karolina Kowalkiewicz with a one-punch knockout in the first round. Previously, she fought in February where she defeated Tecia Torres by unanimous decision to start her title run. Andrade was the clear-cut contender and even Namajunas knows that.
“I don’t see how anybody else other than Andrade would make sense,” Namajunas said backstage at UFC Fight Night Denver. “I know she wants to stay active. If she wants to have another fight until I’m ready then that is cool, if not I’d love to have a chance at her.”
Namajunas was hoping for a spring return and that turns out to be the case. Now, she will have her first non-Jędrzejczyk fight in over two years come fight night. Her last non-Jędrzejczyk fight was against Michelle Waterson in April of 2017 where Namajunas won the fight by submission.
Ultimately, Namajunas is back but will have to go to Brazil to fight the Brazilian contender come May.
