Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza are finally set to run it back.
According to Sports Illustrated, Namjunas and Esparza have agreed to fight one another in the co-main event of UFC 274 on May 7 in Phoenix, Arizona. The event will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje.
A rematch between Rose and Carla was always the fight to make. Dana White had previously stated that Esparza would be next in the line and now she has her date. SI also reports the fight will be made official by the UFC on Thursday.
Namajunas and Esparza first fought back in the finale of TUF 20 where Esparza won by third-round submission to win the inaugural strawweight title. With the loss, Namajunas dropped to just 2-2 as a professional.
However, after that setback, ‘Thug Rose’ went 6-1 including winning and defending the promotions strawweight belt. Esparza, meanwhile, never successfully defended the 115lbs title. ‘The Cookie Monster’ lost to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her first attempted title defense and has been clawing her way back up the ranks ever since.
Rose Namajunas (11-4) last defended her belt by defeating Weili Zhang by decision at UFC 268. ‘Thug’ reclaimed the strawweight title back in April as she scored a first-round TKO over Zhang to become the first female fighter to become a two-time UFC champ. She first won the belt with a stunning first-round KO upset win over Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217.
Carla Esparza (18-6) is currently on a five-fight win streak and coming off a TKO win over Yan Xiaonan last May. During this win streak, she also holds split decision wins over Marina Rodriguez and Michelle Waterson. She also beat Alexa Grasso and Virna Jandiroba by decision.
With the addition of Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza 2, UFC 274 is as follows:
Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje
Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza
Michael Chandler vs. Tony Ferguson
Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux
Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
Randy Brown vs. Khaos Williams
Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon
Macy Chiasson vs. Norma Dumont
Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell
Ariane Carnelossi vs. Loopy Godinez
Kleydson Rodrigues vs. CJ Vergara
Danny Roberts vs. Francisco Trinaldo
