‘Magnum’ Betting Favorite In ‘Thug’ Title Fight

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight champion Zhang Weili will battle former 115-pound titleholder Rose Namajunas at the upcoming UFC 261 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for April 24 inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

And she’ll do it as the -200 favorite.

That’s according to the bright-eyed bookies at BetOnline.ag, who pegged Namajunas as the +170 underdog. You can expect that betting line to fluctuate — in both directions — as we inch closer to fight night.

Weili (21-1) captured the strawweight strap by smashing Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen back in summer 2019, then defended her title with a “Fight of the Year” performance opposite Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248.

Namajunas (9-4), meanwhile, was knocked out by the aforementioned Andrade at UFC 237 in May 2019, then avenged her loss to “Bate Estaca” at UFC 251 roughly a year later. Like Weili, “Thug” also turned away Jedrzejczyk in recent years.

UFC 261 will be headlined by the welterweight rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. Elsewhere on the card, Andrade attempts to win her second UFC title against flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

For the latest UFC 261 fight card and lineup click here.