SUMMARY
- Rose Namajunas is presently ranked 8th in the women's pound-for-pound category.
- Things worsened with her loss at UFC Fight Night against Manon Fiorot on September 2, 2023.
Rose ‘Thug’ Namajunas is an accomplished UFC fighter with a career trajectory that many fighters can only dream about. A former two-time UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, she is presently ranked 8th in the women’s pound-for-pound category. However, she is also a superstar who failed to achieve her true potential in the UFC.
Things started going downhill for Rose after winning her second UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship against Zhang Weili in a thrilling five-round match. However, she soon suffered a humiliating loss to Weili in a rematch.
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The humiliating loss led many to question her in-ring abilities as a fighter. Things worsened with her loss at UFC Fight Night against Manon Fiorot on September 2, 2023. Fiorot won this fight unanimously after outwrestling Namajunas for three straight rounds.
Following this fight, Rose stated in an interview with Ariel Helwani for The MMA Hour, “I just didn’t feel aggressive, and I felt like I don’t really want to hurt anybody. So I was just like, ‘I guess I’m done…”
The loss impacted her personally and her opinion of herself as a professional wrestler. Hence, she is taking time off to reevaluate herself and her wrestling abilities.
Rose Namajunas hints towards retirement after her last UFC fight
Rose Namajunas has been a proud UFC champion known for her aggressive fighting style. Namajunas holds a record of 12-6-0 (W-L-D) in the UFC, with five victories in the very first round of the fight. Thus, the successful defeats in straight rounds were the last thing that she expected in her career.
Right after losing her UFC Champion to Zhang Weili, she said, “I think the reason I wanted to retire is because this isn’t a job where you can go in half a** and not be fully passionate about what you’re doing”.
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The loss completely sapped her passion for professional fighting. Further, it also led her to question her worth as a fighter and whether it was worth the time, energy, and emotions that she was devoting to it.
Rose Namajunas’ attempt to dispel doubts regarding her fighting abilities ends in heartbreak
The heartbreaking defeat to Fiorot resurfaced her desire to retire from MMA, which she expressed in 2019. This was immediately after her defeat to Jessica Andrade at UFC 237.
The thing that perhaps hurt Rose the most was that she was completely outwrestled and outsmarted by Fiorot. In fact, in this fight, Rose wanted to dispel doubts regarding her abilities and future in the UFC. Thus, she said in an interview with Ariel Helwani for The MMA Hour, “I definitely thought I was done for a good amount of time”.
However, despite her thoughts about retirement, Namajunas is still an active UFC fighter, waiting for the right time to return to action. In fact, she has been training hard and is in the best shape of her life. So, an explosive return is certainly on the cards very soon.