Rose Namajunas has fought in lots of UFC title fights, however none would match the possibility to compete for gold in her ancestral house.
“Thug Rose” picked up her second straight win at 125 kilos Saturday in the primary occasion of UFC Denver, displaying off the talents that made her a two-time strawweight champion as she gained a convincing choice over Tracy Cortez. It was the primary defeat for Cortez contained in the octagon and additional proof that Namajunas is a two-division risk.
Talking to the ESPN crew after the present, Namajunas outlined her dream situation for a way she’d need her flyweight title shot to be booked.
“I had this imaginative and prescient, I wish to combat in Lithuania someday,” Namajunas stated, referring to her mother and father’ house nation. “Carry the UFC to Lithuania, and I’d like to rematch Manon [Fiorot] or anyone for the belt, no matter. That’s my dream come true, however something that the UFC has in thoughts, I’m cool with as properly.”
Requested how shut she feels she is to a title shot, Namajunas answered, “I’m prepared every time.”
Namajunas additionally spoke to reporters on the night’s post-fight press convention the place she was requested about taking part within the first-ever girls’s “BMF” title combat. She talked about the chance herself through the in-cage interview following Saturday’s win, later remarking that it was extra of a gag than something.
“I don’t know, I used to be simply joking truly,” Namajunas stated. “However I do know Joanna [Jedrzejczyk] says she would come again for a girls’s BMF, so that will simply be for enjoyable. I really like her. I don’t know, I believe I used to be simply form of joking there. I don’t know what I used to be considering.”
Namajunas and Jedrzejczyk beforehand fought twice, with Namajunas successful each championship encounters. Jedrzejczyk retired in 2022 and was inducted into the UFC Corridor of Fame in 2024.
There’s an lively fighter with whom Namajunas additionally had a memorable two-fight collection with, former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade. Andrade knocked Namajunas out with a vicious slam of their first assembly, then Namajunas earned an in depth break up choice win of their rematch.
Namajunas sees Andrade as a possible BMF candidate too, although her focus remains to be on changing into an undisputed champion in a second weight class.
“That’s the one factor, is I’d combat her possibly for one more belt, and also you saying that it’s like, ‘eh,’” Namajunas stated. “However I need the true belt, in order that’s attention-grabbing.”
