Past:
“Thug” Rose was riding a 5 fight win streak and received an opportunity to fight Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the Women’s Strawweight belt. At the time, Jedrzejczyk undefeated at 8-0. She looked unstoppable; that was until she fought Rose Najamunas. Rose TKO’d Jedrzejczyk in the first round to become the new Strawweight champion. Per usual, the former champion got an immediate rematch, but the result was still the same. This time Rose Najamunas went all 5 rounds with Jedrzejczyk, but Rose won by decsion. She had defeated the former champion twice in decisive fashion.
Rose Najamunas was set to defend her title for the first time against Jessica Andrade. Andrade was a strong fighter with immense grappling ability. Rose Najamunas had easily won the first round and was winning the second round until Jessica Andrade went for a takedown. Rose countered her takedown with a kimura, however submission attempts allow the figher to be slammed on their head. Using her strength, Andrade slammed Rose on her head and TKO’d her. Jessica Andrade was the new strawweight champion.
Present:
On July 11th UFC 251 is set to take place on fight island. There are several title fights on this stacked card, however, arguably the most enticing fight is the rematch of Rosa Namajunas and Jessica Andrade. This is not for the strawweight belt, because Andrade lost to Weili Zhang after her fight with Rose.
In Rose’s first fight with Andrade, she was easily winning the fight. Rose had Andrade bleeding after the first round. If Andrade didn’t get the slam TKO, the fights outcome would have been totally different. Rose will defeat Andrade on July 11th. It seems that if Rose wins she will be the #1 contender to fight the current champion Weili Zhang. Zhang had an amazing fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk which was a close 5 round fight that Zhang won.
Future:
Rose Namajunas has all the tools to defeat Zhang. Namajunas is great in the clinch and at grappling. She also has a good combination of speed and power in her hands. Rose Namajunas will once again become the strawweight champion, and it all starts with her rematch fight with Jessica Andrade.
Photo Credit: UFC
