Can Rose Namajunas Make One Last Championship Run?
At UFC Fight Night Atlanta, we fans were privileged to witness two legendary fighters turn back the clock and remind everyone who they really are. In the main event, Kamaru Usman dominated rising star Joaquin Buckley over five rounds, forcing fans to remember just who he really is. In the co-main event, former two-time UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas was also victorious. After an underwhelming stretch of fights, fans are wondering if this is the win that can set Rose Namajunas back to championship contention.
In 2017, Rose Namajunas got her first taste of championship gold after upsetting Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The win would not only produce one of the greatest knockouts in WMMA history but would also officially solidify Namajunas as a star. Namajunas would only defend her belt once, as she would be on the wrong side of a vicious slam, officially ending her first championship reign before it really began. Following Namajunas’ crushing defeat at UFC 237, ‘Thug Rose’ would put her resilience on full display by avenging her defeat to Jessica Andrade. After defeating Andrade, Namajunas would yet again provide one of the greatest knockouts in UFC Championship fight history, this time against the dominant Zhang Weili, thus kicking off her second UFC Strawweight Championship reign.
Rose Namajunas’ first and second reigns were nearly identical. Namajunas would win a rematch against Zhang Weili, as she did against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her first reign, before losing her championship in her next fight. Namajunas would lose two straight fights for the first time in her UFC career, including her debut in the UFC Women’s Flyweight Division. However, Namajunas would snap the worst streak of her career with two straight wins over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez. A setback would follow in a fight with top Flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield, officially making Namajunas’ fight with Miranda Maverick at UFC Fight Night Atlanta a must-win. Namajunas would win a close but clear fight, reigniting her championship aspirations.
The UFC Flyweight Division is possibly the deepest division in WMMA. With contenders the likes of Natalia Silva, Manon Fiorot, Alexa Grasso, and Erin Blanchfield, as well as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history as champion, Valentina Shevchenko, Rose Namajunas reaching the top of the Flyweight Division is going to be difficult. However, Rose Namajunas’ career has been defined by succeeding in situations nobody expects her to succeed in. Whether it’s dethroning Joanna Jedrzejczyk when everyone believed the ‘Boogeywoman’ to be unbeatable, or reclaiming her UFC Strawweight Championship with a first-round knockout of Zhang Weili, you can never count Rose Namajunas out.
