Rose Namajunas set to make comeback against highly ranked opponent at UFC Vegas 88

It looks like Rose Namajunas is set to make her return to the octagon against another highly ranked opponent at UFC Vegas 88, which is scheduled to take place at the UFC's APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada on Mar. 23rd.

According to a report by MMA Hoje via Combat Sports Today, the former UFC women's strawweight champion will once again be competing at 125-pounds. The promotion isn't making it easy on her either as she is reportedly scheduled to fight No.9 ranked women's flyweight Amanda Ribas.

Tweet regarding Namajunas vs. Ribas being booked for UFC Vegas 88 [Image courtesy: @CSTodayNews - X]

'Thug Rose' moved up to flyweight after losing her women's strawweight championship to Carla Esparza at UFC 274. Her flyweight debut didn't go according to plan as she lost a unanimous decision to the No.3 ranked Manon Fiorot this past September.

The Brazilian, on the other hand, will also be returning to 125-pounds for the first time since her TKO loss to Maycee Barber last June. Her return to flyweight comes as somewhat of a surprise, as she most recently fought Luana Pinheiro in a strawweight bout, where she earned an impressive third-round TKO win and a Performance of the Night bonus.

Ribas has split wins and losses in her recent bouts and will be looking to put together consecutive wins for the first time since 2020. In addition, she has also competed at both strawweight and flyweight, so she is accustomed to competing in both weight divisions.

It will be interesting to see how Namajunas performs in her second outing at flyweight as she will be looking to bounce back from back to back losses. Despite the losses, she has a great opportunity to insert herself back in the UFC women's flyweight title picture as an impressive win could result in the promotion booking her against a top-5 ranked opponent next.