Jessica Andrade vs Rose Namajunas - Photo by Mauro Pimentel / AFP

UFC 249 scheduled date is fast approaching and while we have no idea if and where this event will happen, we know the co-main event will be phenomenal.

It’s the second meeting between two of the best women’s strawweights in the world. Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade will battle it out for the #1 contender spot, and what should be a future title shot. UFC Odds are already listed for the event, here’s a complete betting guide previewing Namajunas and Andrade, including updated odds and our betting prediction.

Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andreade Saturday, April 18, 2020 – 11:35 PM EDT Opening Line: Rose Namajunas -185 at 5Dimes

Like most of the sports world, the UFC is in uncharted territory. At this point UFC President Dana White says this event will happen, but I’m not that optimistic. Nevertheless, we will wish this event into existence. If it does happen, we need to be ready to bet this card. The fight card is stacked with what should be the fight of the year in Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson, and co-main event in Namajunas vs Andrade. This is the 5th time that the UFC has tried to make Nurmagomedov/Ferguson happen. Nobody thought a global pandemic would be the reason it may be canceled this time. It’s set to take place On April 18th 2020, no location yet but let’s take a closer look at the co-main event in this week’s edition of ‘First Look’.

Rose Namajunas. Mike Stobe/Getty Images/AFP

Rose Namajunas (8-4-0)

Best Odds:

The 27-year-old UFC strawweight contender was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the age of 5 years old, Rose began training in the art of Taekwondo. She would train in this practice through her teenage years.

While at the Milwaukee High School of Arts, Namajunas trained in the art of wrestling her senior year. In 2010, while training with Duke Roufus at Roufusport, Rose Namajunas began her amateur MMA career. She would spend the next 2.5 years training and fighting as an amateur mixed martial artist. She fought 4 times as an amateur, winning every fight. It was at that point that her and her coach decided she would go pro.

Namajunas would win 2 of her first 3 fights for the all-women MMA promotion, Invicta FC. Following her first professional loss to Tecia Torres, Namajunas got the break she was waiting for. A spot on UFC’s reality television show The Ultimate Fighter. She made the finals of the reality show and fought for the strawweight championship against Carla Esparza. It was her first opportunity at immortality, but she fell short.

Disappointed but focused, Namajunas would win 4 of her next 5 fights in the UFC, until she was given another opportunity to fight for the UFC women’s strawweight championship. She stepped into the cage against Joanna Jedrzejczyk as a (+450) underdog and walked out of the cage the women’s strawweight championship. She would defend the title again in a rematch and walked out with the strap again.

Finally, in her 2nd title defense, she fell short against the woman she will fight at UFC 249. She outclassed Jessica Andrade on the feet for 2 rounds until Andrade picked her up and dropped her on her head, stripping Namajunas of the strawweight championship. Can Namajunas get retribution at UFC 249?

Have we seen the last of Rose Namajunas? The now former UFC strawweight champ is unsure about her fighting future after her KO loss. #UFC237



Full story: https://t.co/y17pEWwkpL pic.twitter.com/1CWeeSS6Xd — MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) May 12, 2019

Jessica Andrade (20-7-0)

Best Odds:

Jessica Andrade might only stand 5 feet 2 inches tall, but she has the power and strength to make up for it in spades.

Like most Brazilian natives, Andrade trained in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for most of her adolescence. When it was all said and done Andrade earned a black belt in BJJ. She didn’t think this is where she would end up in life.

Andrade grew up thinking that she would take over her parents’ plantation that she worked on as a child. This wasn’t even the sport that she thought she would end up competing in. She began training to become a professional soccer player. She was good enough to get offered a contract for a soccer club in Sao Paulo, but her parents forbade her from moving away from home. It was at that point that she focused all her attention on training.

Andrade decided she wanted to become a professional mixed martial artist. She trained for years, and finally in 2011 she began her professional MMA career. She would fight and train all over Brazil, winning 8 of her first 10 fights as a pro.

In 2013 the UFC noticed that she was a female fighter on the rise, and signed her to a contract as a last-minute replacement to fight Liz Carmouche at UFC on FOX: Johnson vs Moraga.

Since her UFC debut, Andrade has an (11-5) record. She rose to the pinnacle of the sport when she beat Rose Namajunas to win the UFC strawweight championship. Unfortunately for Jessica, the incredible feeling that she felt would be short-lived.

In her first title defense, Andrade lost her title to the current UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang. Now she is left with a chance at vindication. Can she put Rose Namajunas away for the 2nd time and get the rematch she so desperately wants? If she wins this fight she will get the opportunity to get her title back. All that stands in the way of that is a thug named Rose.

New UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade has many options for her first title defense, but if it was up to her she’d defend her title against Rose Namajunas in Denver next to return the favor for Namajunas coming to Brazil.



Full: https://t.co/pV1tgvusON pic.twitter.com/YR2uafiMbQ — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 21, 2019

How can Andrade win the fight?

Jessica has to do what she did in the first fight. It was the reason she won, and it’s the easiest path to victory for her. She has to get her hands on Namajunas. Get inside the range of Rose and take her down to the mat. She showed the strength/power advantage she had in the first fight. She picked her up and dropped her on her head so hard that she knocked her out. That will be almost impossible to duplicate, but what put her in that position in the first place is what she needs to do. Get inside the range and down to the mat. If she does that successfully, she will control the fight and get the win.

Jessica Andrade celebrates her victory vs Rose Namajunas during their women’s strawweight title bout at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 237 event (UFC 237) on May 11, 2019. (Photo by Mauro Pimentel / AFP)

How can Namajunas win the fight?

Rose has to do exactly what she did in the first fight. Right up until the moment she was dropped on her head and was put to sleep. I have watched the first fight about 5 times. There is no question that Rose has a monumental advantage on the feet. She outclassed Andrade for almost 2 full rounds. Her footwork, speed and range were just too much for Andrade to do anything. The only way Rose could have lost that first fight was if she let Andrade get inside the range to get hands-on her. That was exactly what she did. Rose has a great offensive guard on the ground. If the fight went to the ground and she didn’t get dropped on her head, she could have hung with Andrade until the round was over.

Who will win the fight?

I have to go with Rose Namajunas here. There is a reason that she went from being an underdog in the first fight to a favorite in the rematch EVEN THOUGH SHE LOST THE FIRST FIGHT. If Rose is more patient, and conscious of keeping her range at the right distance, she wins this fight easily. She proved that in the first fight. I think she will not make the mistake of letting Andrade get inside this time around. Give me a Thug Named Rose.