Report: Namajunas vs. Jedrzejczyk rematch targeted for UFC 223
Rose Namajunas' first strawweight title defense may come against a familiar face.
A 115-pound championship bout between the reigning queen and Joanna Jedrzejczyk - whom Namajunas stopped to win the crown at UFC 217 - is in the works for UFC 223 on April 7 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani reports.
The yet-to-be-finalized bout was first reported by TalkMMA.
Namajunas earned her second shot at strawweight gold with a second-round submission of Michelle Waterson last April before stunning the previously unbeaten Jedrzejczyk with a first-round knockout in November. She heads into the rematch with a UFC record of 5-2.
Jedrzejczyk had voiced her designs on securing the promotion's women's record for title defenses with seven and then chasing a flyweight crown prior to seeing the plan thwarted by Namajunas at Madison Square Garden. The 30-year-old had previously won all 14 of her professional bouts and defended the UFC strawweight title in five dominant showings.
A tilt between interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov is also expected to take place at the April event, although it remains to be seen what will be at stake in the highly anticipated matchup, as long inactive undisputed champion Conor McGregor has not yet been stripped.