Former UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas will make her return to the Octagon after more than a year of inactivity when she takes on Manon Fiorot at the upcoming UFC Paris 2 event in the French capital in September.
Manon Fiorot vs. Rose Namajunas may decide the next flyweight contender
Namajunas’ return to the Octagon will also mark her debut in the Flyweight division, after having been the world champion in the Women’s Strawweight category twice in the past- in 2017 and 2021.
On Friday, the UFC made the official announcement of the confrontation between Namajunas and Fiorot, a fight that could define the next challenger to the 125-pound championship.
🚨 THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨@ManonFiorot_MMA vs @RoseNamajunas is OFFICIAL for #UFCParis!!!
Get your tickets here 🔗 https://t.co/uHNHBcjqAy pic.twitter.com/ZfSFug77hL
— UFC (@ufc) June 23, 2023
Fiorot is currently ranked second in the flyweight division, while Namajunas holds the same position at strawweight. Therefore, the winner of this match could have the opportunity to face the winner of the confrontation between Valentina Shevchenko and the current Flyweight champ- Alexa Grasso.
The last time “Thug Rose” stepped into the Octagon was on May 7th of last year at UFC 274 in Phoenix, Arizona when she lost her Strawweight belt to Carla Esparza via split decision.
Namajunas became the strawweight champion for the first time in 2017 with a knockout victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217. Defeated by Jessica Andrade in her second title defense, Rose reclaimed the title in 2021 against Zhang Weili and marked one more title defense against the Chinese, before losing to Esparza.
For her part, Fiorot has a perfect record in the UFC by winning the five fights she has had in the organization. The Frenchwoman’s last win was against Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 280 on 22nd October in a catchweight bout after Chookagian missed weight. “The Beast currently holds a clean 5-0 record in the Octagon.
UFC Paris 2 will be heading to the Accor Arena on 2nd September and the current lineup looks something like this-
- Ciryl Gane vs Sergey Spivac
- Manon Fiorot vs Rose Namajunas
- Volkan Oezdemir vs Azamat Murzakanov
- Nora Cornolle vs Joselyne Edwards
- Zarah Fairn vs Hailey Cowan
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