Rose Namajunas to defend strawweight title against Carla Esparza at UFC 274
The date for the next strawweight title defense is set, adding to a stacked May UFC pay-per-view event.
Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is in the works to meet Carla Esparza for the second time in her career at UFC 274. The event takes place on May 7 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, and Namajunas vs. Esparza 2 will serve as the co-main event. MMA Junkie confirmed the news following an initial report from Spots Illustrated.
Namajunas (11-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) faced Esparza (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) for the first time at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale in 2014 for the inaugural strawweight title bout. Esparza won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the third round.
Since their first meeting, Namajunas has gone on to claim the strawweight title twice, and picked up the first defense of her second reign in her last outing by defeating Zhang Weili via split decision at UFC 268.
Esparza has racked up five-straight victories in order to earn another crack at the title she once held. She most recently defeated Yan Xiaonan in a dominant performance, finishing the fight in the second round via ground and pound at UFC Fight Night 188.
UFC President Dana White recently stated Namajunas vs. Esparza 2 would be the next title fight, silencing doubts that another challenger would leap Esparza.
With the addition, the UFC 274 lineup includes:
Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje – for lightweight title
Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza – for women’s strawweight title
Michael Chandler vs. Tony Ferguson
Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux
Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon
Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell
Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
Macy Chiasson vs. Norma Dumont
Ariane Carnelossi vs. Loopy Godinez
Kleydson Rodrigues vs. CJ Vergara
Danny Roberts vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Randy Brown vs. Khaos Williams
Fernie Garcia vs. Journey Newson
Michael Johnson vs. Alan Patrick
Tracy Cortez vs. Melissa Gatto