UFC 261 live blog: Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas

Zhang Weili will try to defend her UFC title at UFC 261 against Rose Namajunas. | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

This is the UFC 261 live blog for Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas, the strawweight co-headliner for Saturday’s fight card at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.

Zhang attempts the second title defense of her reign as strawweight champ 13 months after delivering the consensus “Fight of the Year” in a fight against ex-champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk. After five rounds of brutal action that left Jedrzejczyk’s head badly disfigured, Zhang captured a split decision to cement herself as the best at 115 pounds. She struggled far less to win the crown when she stopped Jessica Andrade in 42 seconds at UFC Shenzhen in August 2019.

Namajunas returns to the cage nine months after avenging a loss to Andrade, who captured the title she held with a brutal slam in their first meeting at UFC 237 in May 2019. The former champion had defended the belt just once, outpointing Jedrzejczyk via unanimous decision after stopping her at UFC 217 to claim the belt.

Check out the UFC 261 live blog below.