American fighter Rose Namajunas got a split decision win (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) over Brazil's Jessica Andrade during their second women's strawweight division encounter at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) first event on Fight Island, UFC 251, on Sunday morning in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

In the post-match interview, Namajunas said she's wants to challenge the division's current champion, China's Zhang Weili, by the end of year.

During the first fight with Andrade on May 11, 2019, which was also Namajunas' most recent fight, "Thug Rose" dominated but was ultimately knocked out by a big slam from Andrade in Round 2, losing the championship belt taken from Joanna Jedrzejczyk in November 2017. 

Then, Andrade failed to defend the belt last August at UFC Fight Night: Shenzhen as Zhang defeated her in a 42 second mauling. Zhang then defended it at UFC 248 in what is considered the best women's MMA fight of all time by defeating Jedrzejczyk in a razor-thin split decision on March 7.

In today's three-round fight, Rose's left eye and nose were badly injured, and her face was covered with blood in Round 3, something that had never happened before in her career, but may have been expected; Andrade is well known for being the hardest hitter in the women's strawweight division and has to spar with men in the gym because of it. But Rose did enough in the first two frames for a majority of the judges to score in her favor.

After the match, Zhang gave her thoughts, saying, "I think both of them improved a lot. Andrade dodged with her head more, and Rose were more stable. I think for the first two rounds, Rose won, and for the last round, Andrade won."

Zhang also said that she hoped Rose could recover as soon as possible, and looked forward fighting her, which should be the next fight for both competitors. However, plans are currently on hold as Zhang's coach is in Thailand and is unable to return to Beijing to continue her training.

For all main card matches on UFC 251, the results are: 

Men's welterweight championship: Kamaru Usman (C) def. Jorge Masvidal (unanimous decision, 50-45, 50-45, 49-48)

Men's featherweight championship: Alexander Volkanovski (C) def. Max Holloway (split decision, 47-48, 48-47, 48-47)

Men's bantamweight championship: Petr Yan def. Jose Aldo (TKO by punches, Round 5: 3:24)

Women's strawweight division: Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade (split decision, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Women's flyweight division: Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant  (submission by arm bar, Round 1: 2:22)

(Video: Courtesy of UFC)

(Video editor: Li Chenqi)