After some initial hesitation from the UFC, it appears the
promotion is ready to book a strawweight championship rematch
between Rose
Namajunas and Carla
Esparza.
UFC president Dana White confirmed in an interview with ESPN that Esparza
is next in line for a 115-pound title shot. A date for the proposed
bout was not revealed.
“Carla Esparza (is next),” White said. “100 percent.”
Esparza and Namajunas initially squared off at “The Ultimate
Fighter 20” finale with the promotion’s inaugural strawweight title
at stake. Esparza captured the belt via third-round submission in
the December 2014 bout but relinquished the crown in a second-round
KO loss to Joanna
Jedrzejczyk in her next outing. “The Cookie Monster” went 3-3
in UFC competition from 2016 to 2018 before embarking on a
five-bout winning streak that propelled her to her current No. 1
contender status.
Namajunas, meanwhile, is currently on her second championship reign
in the strawweight division. She reclaimed the belt with a
first-round KO of Weili Zhang
at UFC 261 and most recently, took a split verdict over Zhang in a
rematch at UFC 268.