Rose Namajunas is set for an interesting stylistic matchup against the strong and heavy-hitting Jessica Andrade at UFC 237. The championship bout will be held on May 11 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Read about the numbers that may just define this women’s strawweight title showdown.
Winning streak
After losing to Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight title, Andrade worked her way up to title contention by piling up three straight victories at the expense of Claudia Gadelha, Tecia Torres and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Namajunas, meanwhile, is also on a three-fight win streak since her loss to Kowalkiewicz at UFC 201. Two of those wins include a title showdown and a rematch with Jedrzejczyk.Common UFC opponents
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Andrade’s bout with Jedrzejczyk started promisingly, with both fighters firing shots. But by round two, Jedrzejczyk’s movement forced Andrade to miss, using range and space to land shots of her own. Her masterful striking started to show and this went on until the final bell. And while Andrade was constantly getting tagged, she continued to chase the then champion. In the end, the uber-tough Andrade lost by unanimous decision.
After beating Andrade, Jędrzejczyk faced Namajunas. Unfortunately for her, it was the last of her title reign as “Thug Rose” knocked her out in the first round. Their rematch was a lot more competitive but just the same, Namajunas walked away with the victory, earning a score of 49-46 across the board.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Namajunas and Kowalkiewicz engaged in a three-round war at UFC 201, with the latter winning via a close split decision. Andrade, for her part, made sure nothing was contestable as she took out the Polish fighter with a brutal knockout in the first round. A right hand from Andrade sent Kowalkiewicz to the canvas, prompting referee Kerry Hatley to stop the fight at 1:58.Angela Hill
Namajunas bowed to Carla Esparza in her UFC debut, which was for the promotion’s inaugural strawweight title. But on her next fight, Namajunas made sure to notch her first win by submitting former Invicta FC strawweight queen Angela Hill in the first round. Andrade, on the other hand, wasn’t able to stop Hill but she drubbed her in all three rounds to claim a unanimous decision victory.Road to UFC gold
After losing to Esparza for the inaugural UFC strawweight title, Namajunas climbed her way up the rankings by going 4-1 in her next five fights. She defeated Hill, Paige VanZant, Tecia Torres and Michelle Waterson and lost only to Kowalkiewicz. Andrade took the longer route as her road to a title showdown included 10 fights, after which she challenged Jędrzejczyk for the straweight championship, albeit to a losing cause.Andrade went 7-3, with triumphs over Rosi Sexton, Raquel Pennington, Larissa Pacheco, Sarah Moras, Jessica Penne, Joanne Calderwood and Hill. Her losses came at the hands of Marion Reneau, Jędrzejczyk and Pennington in a rematch.