Former UFC women’s strawweight champion “Thug” Rose Namajunas is set to give a new weight class a try.
Namajunas (11-5), a two-time 115lb champ in the promotion, will face French flyweight Manon Fiorot (10-1) in a 125lb fight set for UFC Paris on September 2, 2023 at the Accor Arena in Paris, France.
MMA Junkie was first to report news of the booking on Friday.
Namajunas has not competed since losing her strawweight title to Carla Esparza at UFC 274 in May of 2022. That defeat marked her second loss to Esparza, after losing to the “Cookie Monster” in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 20 in 2014, with the promotion’s inaugural 115lb title on the line.
Namajunas first claimed gold in 2017, stopping Joanna Jedrzejczyk then defeating the Polish star in an immediate rematch. Namajunas then lost the belt to Jessica Andrade (who in turn would lose it to Weili Zhang), before defeating Andrade in a non-title rematch. Namajunas then defeated Zhang to reclaim gold, and beat the Chinese star in an immediate rematch before the second Esparza loss.
“Thug” Rose has not competed as a flyweight during her professional career, but did take a couple of fights at 125lbs during her amateur run.
Fiorot is undefeated in the UFC through five fights, and is coming off wins over ex-title challengers Katlyn Chookagian and Jennifer Maia.
UFC Paris is set to be headlined by French heavyweight Ciryl Gane, taking on Serghei Spivac. The following match-ups have been reported for the Fight Night event, which marks the company’s second-ever trip to France:
- Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac
- Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards
- Hailey Cowan vs. Zarah Fairn
- Azamat Murzakanov vs. Volkan Oezdemir
- Manon Fiorot vs. Rose Namajunas
