Rose Namajunas withdraws from UFC 249 following the death of two family members due to COVID-19

Photo Credit: Jeff Bottari - Zuffa LLC 

Yesterday news emerged regarding the UFC 249 co-main event rematch between former 115-pound champions, Jéssica Andrade, and Rose Namajunas. The Milwaukee native had officially withdrawn from the April 18th. event - for undisclosed reasons.

This evening, Namajunas' manager, Brian Butler-Au released a statement where he detailed how the 27-year-old had decided to remove herself from the event after two of her family members had passed away due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"Immediate release: @rosenamajunas withdrew from UFC 249 due to two deaths in the family related to coronavirus. Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible but for now, we ask for people to respect their privacy at this time."

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Immediate release: @rosenamajunas withdrew from UFC 249 due to 2 deaths in the family related to the Coronavirus. Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible but for now we ask for people to respect their privacy during this time.

A post shared by Brian Butler-Au (@suckerpunchent) on Apr 9, 2020 at 12:14pm PDT

Namajunas last competed at UFC 238 in May of last year, losing via a slam knockout to Andrade. Before the defeat, the Colorado-based striker had managed two career-highlight victories over long-time strawweight queen, Joanna Jędrzejczyk. The Trevor Wittman product holds other notable wins over former Invicta FC atomweight champion, Michelle Waterson, former Invicta FC strawweight champion, Angela Hill, as well as strawweight and flyweight contender, Tecia Torres, and Paige VanZant, respectively.

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