MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a deeper look at the co-main event of UFC 268, a five-round UFC women’s strawweight title fight rematch fight between champion Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang. The event takes place on Saturday, November 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
Rose Namajunas (-110)
Namajunas (11-4) is the UFC women’s strawweight champion. The 29-year-old American is 8-3 overall in the UFC with two separate reigns as the women’s 115lbs champion. In her last two fights, Namajunas has defeated Zhang and Jessica Andrade. She also has two wins over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, as well as wins over Michelle Waterson, Tecia Torres, Paige VanZant, and Angela Hill. As for her losses, she has lost to Andrade, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Carla Esparza. Namajunas is good everywhere the fight goes. On the feet, she moves great and throws with volume and power, on the ground she can submit anyone in the division, and she can do it for the full 25 minutes. After knocking out Zhang in the first fight, Namajunas is now looking to prove that she can do it again.
Weili Zhang (-110)
Zhang (21-2) is the former UFC women’s strawweight champion. The 32-year-old China native is 5-1 overall in the UFC with notable wins over the likes of Joanna Jedrzejczjyk, Tecia Torres, and Jessica Andrade. Zhang was on a 21-fight win streak at one point in her career and it culminated with her winning the UFC belt and then defeating Jedrzejczyk in a 2020 “Fight of the Year” contender. Zhang is an awesome striker on the feet and she also has a solid ground game when she chooses to go there. She is also a very aggressive fighter and constantly moves forward in her fights. However, after going on a long win streak, she dropped her belt to Namajunas earlier this year with a head kick loss. Zhang has made a myriad of excuses as to why she lost that fight, and this weekend at UFC 268, she will look to prove that what happened in that fight was a total fluke.
Fight Breakdown: We saw this fight back in April and Namajunas won with a first-round head kick. It didn’t surprise me that Namajunas won as I predicted she would get her hand raised, but I’ll admit I was surprised by how quickly she finished the fight. I just wonder if all the damage that Zhang took against Jedrzejczyk has diminished her chin because it was pretty shocking seeing her go down like that. If Zhang can show more durability, then I think this fight can be more competitive the second time around, but I have to go with Namajunas to defend her belt. I almost feel like it’s a bit disrespectful that she is at Pick ’em odds in this rematch given how easily she won the first fight. While I think Zhang will prove to be tougher this time around, I still really like Namajunas to defend her belt, especially at this cheap price. Give me Namajunas to win a decision and defend her belt.
Prediction: Rose Namajunas
