UFC 251: Andrade vs Namajunas betting predictions

Two former UFC Women’s Strawweight champions collide in the second fight on the main card of UFC 251 this weekend in Abu Dhabi. The winner of this fight will in all likelihood be next in line for a title shot against the current champion, Zhang Weili.

Rose Namajunas (8-4-0) had a breakout performance in 2017 when she got a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejcyk at UFC 217. Jedrzejcyk was a perfect 14-0-0 heading into that fight and closed as a -640 favorite, but Namajunas pulled off a stunning first-round knockout as a +568 underdog. Namajunas proved the win was no fluke when she successfully defended the title against Jedrzejcyk at UFC 223 five months later.

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But in her second UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship defense at UFC 237, Namajunas was knocked out by a violent slam in the second round. That win gave Jessica Andrade (20-7-0) her fourth straight win and her seventh win in her last eight UFC fights at the time. Andrade’s championship run didn’t last long, however, as the Brazilian lost to Zhang in her first title defense by way of knockout in August of last year.

Both of these women enter this fight coming off a loss and looking to get their momentum back with a big PPV win. It isn’t often that you see the fighter who won the first matchup going off as a significant underdog in the rematch, but the betting action has come in steadily on Namajunas in this one.

And for good reason. Namajunas emerged as one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the UFC in 2017 and was dominating the first fight against Andrade before getting caught off guard with the stunning slam. She and her coaches have had over a year to prepare a defense against Andrade’s power this time around. If Namajunas is able to avoid another knockout blow, her speed and athleticism should carry her to victory and put her in position to face Zhang in the not-too-distant future.