Jessica Andrade-Rose Namajunas Rematch Planned for UFC 249 on April 18

Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade 2 is close to being finalized for UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, according to multiple sources.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 9, 2020

Two ex-champs are planning on running it back at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to New York in April.

On Thursday, ESPN announced that a rematch between former strawweight champs of Jessica Andrade (20-7) and Rose Namajunas (8-4) is in the works for UFC 249. The event will take place on April 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Andrade failed to defend her title for the first time at UFC Fight Night 157 in August 2019, when Weili Zhang stormed through her in 42 seconds. Before the defeat, Andrade picked up gold in the 115-pound division by finishing Namajunas in Round 2 at UFC 237 in May 2019. With that win coming by way of slam knockout, "Bate Estaca" earned the first finish via slam in UFC women's divisional history. Losing the belt less than four months later, Andrade's 112-day title reign marked the shortest of any champ not stripped of their belt since Holly Holm lost her crown to Miesha Tate after wearing the bantamweight crown for 111 days.

Namajunas has not competed since her knockout defeat to Andrade, and flirted with retirement until deciding she would prefer to face off against the Brazilian once more. "Thug Rose" captured the strawweight belt in 2017 by dethroning the undefeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and doing so by first-round knockout. A rematch between the two saw the Milwaukee native prevail once more by a thrilling unanimous verdict at UFC 223.

UFC 249 goes down on April 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where it will be headlined by a long-awaited lightweight championship battle between champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim titleholder Tony Ferguson. A middleweight scrap between Ronaldo Souza and Uriah Hall is also booked for the event.