Rose Namajunas will no longer be fighting at UFC 249. Namajunas was scheduled in a co-main event rematch against former strawweight Jessica Andrade. Her withdrawal from the fight was first reported by Combate and later confirmed by multiple other outlets, including ESPN and MMA Junkie; however, her reason from pulling out of the pay-per-view event is still unknown.
The Namajunas-Andrade rematch was one of highly anticipated fights of UFC 249, which has undergone a major scheduling reshuffle due to issues (mainly travel) stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. The former women's strawweight champion, Namajunas lost the belt to Andrade at UFC 237 last May.
Namajunas had won three fights in a row , including two-title fight wins over Joanna Jedrzejczyk. It was her first loss since July 2016 and just her second since October 2015. Namajunas took some time off to clear her head but was poised to make a comeback against Andrade on April 18.
The UFC has not yet made any official announcement and it's unclear if a replacement opponent will be found for Andrade to face. UFC 249 will be Andrade's first fight since losing the women's strawweight belt to Zhang Weili in August 2019.
UFC 249 will reportedly still go on as planned. The card was fully formed earlier this week and will now be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight featuring Tony Ferguson and Justine Gaethje after travel issues prevented Khabib Nurmagomedov from participating.