Weili Zhang and Rose Namajunas sit at No. 2 in different strawweight stoppage categories.
In 2017, Rose Namajunas captured the UFC strawweight title with a first-round knockout win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The stoppage gave Namajunas four finishes in the UFC 115-pound division. Her victory also ended the 14-fight winning streak of Jedrzejczyk. On Saturday, Namajunas gets the chance to win that title back, take the top spot in UFC strawweight history in finishes and end the 21-fight winning streak of current 115-pound UFC champ, Weili Zhang.
Namajunas’ reign at the top of the division was a short one. She defeated Jedrzejczyk in a rematch, but lost the belt in her next outing when Jessica Andrade, who fights for the flyweight title at UFC 261, slammed Namajunas on her head. Namajunas got revenge when she defeated Andrade in the rematch, but by the time that bout took place, Andrade had lost the title to Zhang.
Zhang lost her professional MMA debut. Since that 2013 setback, she has not tasted a second defeat. With 21 straight wins to her name, Zhang attempts to make her second defense of the title she won in 2019 when she scored a 42-second knockout win over Andrade. That knockout is the second fastest KO in UFC strawweight history and the fastest stoppage in a 115-pound UFC title fight.
If Zhang defends her title against Namajunas, she will become the first 115-pound UFC champ since Jedrzejczyk to defend more than once. Jedrzejczyk holds the UFC record in the strawweight division with five title defenses.
Below is a look at the UFC records of Zhang and Namajunas before their rematch at the top of the UFC 261 fight card.
UFC 261 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.