UFC Predictions: UFC 268: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2

#2. UFC strawweight title: Rose Namajunas vs. Weili Zhang

Rose Namajunas scored a violent TKO of Weili Zhang in their first clash

Like the main event, this UFC title bout is a rematch. Unlike Usman vs. Covington, though, it feels like this fight is slightly more justified.

Rose Namajunas – the only two-time champion in UFC strawweight history – defeated Weili Zhang to win the title at UFC 261 in April. The fight went so quickly – and violently – that it makes sense for the UFC to offer Zhang an immediate rematch.

Can Zhang regain the title this time around? She’s definitely got the raw ability and, if nothing else, probably won’t end up being taken out in just over a minute this time.

However, it is hard to shake off the idea that stylistically, Namajunas is simply a bad match for ‘Magnum’.

One of the most highly touted prospects to ever emerge from China, Zhang debuted in the UFC in 2018. She quickly reeled off three impressive wins, culminating with a decision victory over Tecia Torres.

Many fans predicted success for her in 2019, but few expected the UFC to give her a strawweight title shot. Even fewer figured she’d beat then-champion Jessica Andrade, but Zhang took the Brazilian out in the first round, using her aggression and surprising her with brutal striking power.

Zhang’s next fight was the instant classic with Joanna Jedrzejczyk – a clash that showed her to possess insane toughness and phenomenal cardio. After taking a year off, she then fell to ‘Thug Rose’.

At her best, Zhang is an excellent technical striker who packs plenty of power, and she’s great on the ground too and has the capability to submit opponents.

However, for as good as Zhang is on the feet, it would appear that Namajunas is better. Where Zhang was drawn into a brawl with Jedrzejczyk, Namajunas knocked the Polish fighter out in their first meeting and then picked her apart with her jab in their second.

Sure, she did lose to Andrade, but it was in a fight she was clearly winning, and the finish came in almost fluke-like fashion. Essentially, Namajunas went too hard at a kimura attempt and wound up being slammed on her head. She later righted that wrong by comfortably outpointing Andrade last year.

Basically, all the evidence suggests that ‘Thug Rose’ might not be as powerful a striker as Zhang, but she’s technically superior to the rest of the fighters in the strawweight division.

That means that while Zhang only needs one chance to put her away, it’s going to be very hard for her to find that one shot – particularly as Namajunas appears to be substantially faster than her, too.

Zhang’s best gameplan might be to clinch and grind Namajunas down as Karolina Kowalkiewicz did back in 2016. However, ‘Thug Rose’ has likely developed due to that loss and may well be trickier to get hold of.

This isn’t an impossible fight for ‘Magnum’, but it seems likely that she’ll come out on the wrong end of things again.

The Pick: Namajunas via unanimous decision