A strawweight title fight between champion Rose Namajunas and challenger Jessica Andrade is officially set to headline the UFC’s next trip to Brazil.
The mixed martial arts organization unveiled the first official poster for the event Tuesday with the two 115-pound fighters featured in the centre.
Also promoted on the poster is a featherweight bout between former titleholder Jose Aldo and rising contender Alexander Volkanoski, plus a middleweight clash between ex-champ Anderson Silva and dangerous striker Jared Cannonier.
We're heading down to Rio for #UFC237 and your official poster has just dropped! pic.twitter.com/bzdbfAYMqo
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 19, 2019
Namajunas (8-3) made her first successful title defence last April with a unanimous decision win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the same woman from whom she took the title with a first-round knockout five months prior.
Andrade (19-6) is riding a three-fight winning streak with her most recent victory being a devastating knockout of Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 228 in September. Andrade’s lone loss since dropping down to strawweight was a five-round decision at UFC 211 to then-champ Jedrzejczyk. All of her previous losses occurred when she competed in the 135-pound women’s bantamweight division.
UFC 237 is scheduled for May 11 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Other bouts expected to take place on the card include:
— Jose Aldo vs. Alexander Volkanoski
— Anderson Silva vs. Jared Cannonier
— B.J. Penn vs. Clay Guida
— Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Spann
— Said Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos
— Thiago Alves vs. Laureano Staropoli
— Bethe Correia vs. Irene Aldana
— Talita Bernardo vs. Jessica-Rose Clark
— Luana Carolina vs. Yanan Wu
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