After two contrasting decision defeats in her last two bouts, two-time former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas outlined the burning motivation behind a desire to conquer a new weight division at 125lbs. She gets a showcase opportunity this weekend against a highly-regarded ranked opponent in Amanda Ribas, with the flyweight landscape still navigating choppy waters.
Namajunas keen to get back in win column
CONFUSION over why she’s currently not in the rankings rather tells a story, one of frustration, for those who think fondly when it comes to Rose Namajunas.
“For some reason, I’m not ranked or whatever, even though I am pound-for-pound ranked… it’s super strange. I never paid attention to the rankings, but now I’m like, it’d be nice to be ranked.”
- Fuelling the fire: Namajunas might not have always paid attention to the rankings, but now certainly has
Since making a successful first defence of reign #2 at 115lbs against Zhang Weili via split decision at UFC 268 in November 2021, the 31-year-old has only fought twice.
Plenty has happened across the promotion since her last victory 28 months ago and that fact is particularly pressing at 125lbs where she long suggested she’d end up in the latter part of her professional career when fantasy matchups against dominant champion Valentina Shevchenko et al were being drafted on social media by fans.
Shevchenko has since lost her crown in stunning fashion, arguably should’ve won it back and is now installed as a TUF coach before a proposed trilogy bout against reigning titlist Alexa Grasso in the third quarter of this year.
Namajunas lost a competitive three-round matchup against Manon Fiorot last September, sustaining a broken finger on her right-hand pinkie that still hadn’t fully healed in mid-January after being medically examined on two occasions.
She saw a hand specialist who confirmed she wouldn’t need surgery to correct the problem, and instead the former champion has looked back fondly on that defeat with renewed vigour this weekend will kickstart her surge away from the strawweight divison after another lengthy layoff given the change in reflective mindset.
During the pre-fight media day, she said (h/t: MMAJunkie):
“I could’ve won that fight if it was a little different here and there, I just had that taste of man, I usually get down on myself after a loss but it just motivated me so much more. I knew after the fight I wanted to get right back in there, had to heal my pinky and some personal stuff to figure out… took me a little bit to kind of get those things in order, but I was looking as soon as I was ready.
Just excitement because of how she fights, her energy and skills, the fact she’s top ten. I was ready for anybody, didn’t care who popped up.”
UFC Vegas 89, is as follows
Main card
Women’s flyweight: Amanda Ribas [7 at 115lbs, 8 at 125] vs. Rose Namajunas
Heavyweight: Karl Williams vs. Justin Tafa
Middleweight: Edmen Shahbazyan vs. A.J. Dobson
Bantamweight: Payton Talbott vs. Cameron Saaiman
Featherweight: Billy Quarantillo vs. Youssef Zalal
Featherweight: Fernando Padilla vs. Luis Pajuelo
Prelims
Lightweight: Kurt Holobaugh vs. Trey Ogden
Featherweight: Ricardo Ramos vs. Julian Erosa
Bantamweight: Miles Johns vs. Cody Gibson
Featherweight: Jarno Errens vs. Steven Nguyen
Women’s Bantamweight: Montserrat Rendon vs. Darya Zheleznyakova
Flyweight: Igor Severino vs. Andre Lima
Heavyweight: Mohammed Usman vs. Mick Parkin
Picture source: Getty Images
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