Rose Namajunas News

Chris Taylor - May 11, 2019

A women’s strawweight title fight between Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade headlined tonight’s UFC 237 pay-per-view event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rose Namajunas (8-3 MMA) returns to action for the first time since UFC 223 in April of 2018, where she defeated former division champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk for a second time, this while marking her first career title defense.

Chris Taylor - May 11, 2019

The octagon will return to Rio de Janeiro this evening for UFC 237, a twelve-bout fight card headlined by a strawweight title fight between Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade. The UFC reigning 115-pound champion, Namajunas (8-3 MMA), will return to the cage for the first time since UFC 223 at tonight’s event in Brazil. ‘Thug’ is coming off back to back victories over former strawweight queen Joanna Jędrzejczyk in her most recent octagon appearances.

Tom Taylor - May 10, 2019

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 237 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will attempt to defend her title against hometown hero Jessica Andrade. Come fight time, Namajunas will more than likely face her fair share of boos from the passionate Brazilian fans in attendance in Rio. While this is daunting thought for most fighters, the strawweight champion allegedly did not hesitate when the UFC asked her to defend her title on foreign soil.

Tom Taylor - May 9, 2019

UFC 237 (see how to watch here) will be topped by a dynamite strawweight title fight, as the champion Rose Namajunas defends her title against fearsome challenger Jessica Andrade. Despite the fact that Namajunas is the reigning, defending champion, she’s been identified as a slight underdog against Andrade. Speaking to MMA Junkie ahead of UFC 237, Namajunas took a guess as to why she’s currently the betting underdog against her tough Brazilian opponent.

Drake Riggs - March 18, 2019

Upon the initial announcement of the next strawweight title fight which takes place at UFC 237, it was originally to be the co-main event. That is no longer the case. MMA Fighting has confirmed that the title bout between champion, Rose Namajunas and the challenger, Jessica Andrade is now set to headline the UFC’s return to Brazil on May 11.

Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019

At UFC 237, on May 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Jessica Andrade will have a second opportunity to claim the UFC strawweight strap — this time against reigning champion Rose Namajunas. Heading into this fight, it’s clear that Jessica Andrade will need a strong strategy to unseat the talented champion. Speaking to MMA Fighting, she boldly revealed that strategy. Apparently, she will look to impose pressure, close the distance, and tire Namajunas out.

Drake Riggs - February 18, 2019

UFC 237 on May 11 will act as the UFC’s big return to Brazil. In the co-main event, we’ll be treated to a long-awaited strawweight showdown as the champion Rose Namajunas returns to face off with the hometown challenger, Jessica Andrade.

James Lynch - January 10, 2019

Rose Namajunas is getting no love from the oddsmakers. The UFC strawweight champion, who is scheduled to defend her title against Jessica Andrade at UFC 237, opened as a +100 underdog (bet $100 to win $100) according to 5Dimes. Since then, the line has shot up even further, as Namajunas is sitting at a +135 underdog (bet $100 to win $135) with Andrade coming in at -165 (bet $165 to win $100).

Cole Shelton - December 11, 2018

UFC 233, the first pay-per-view of 2019, is just over a month away and it still doesn’t have a main event. That was not initially the case, as a flyweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo was originally supposed to headline the card. However, when that fight was moved up a week to headline the first ESPN card in Brooklyn, UFC 233 was left without a main event. Now, with the majority of champions booked, injured or recovering from recent fights, the UFC finds itself in a tough situation. There are not a lot of viable options left available for the UFC 233 main event — especially if the promotion wants to compete with Bellator 214, which will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader, and airs the same night.

Cole Shelton - November 11, 2018

Current UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas should be back soon. Namajunas hasn’t fought since UFC 223 when she defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the second time in a row. That fight week was tough for her, as Conor McGregor threw a dolly at the bus she was on and shook her up. Since the fight, Namajunas has been rehabbing an injury and trying to get over the bus attack.

James Lynch - October 21, 2018

When UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk for a second time this past April, it seemingly closed the door on their rivalry….for now. According to “Thug Rose” that’s more satisfying than winning a UFC championship as she mentioned in recent interview with UFC.com.

Tom Taylor - September 9, 2018

On Saturday night, in the last-minute co-main event of UFC 228, Brazil’s Jessica Andrade stepped into the cage with Poland’s Karolina Kowalkiewicz in a bout that was widely expected to produce the next challenger for UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas. Andrade did not let the opportunity go to waste, knocking her accomplished foe out in the bout’s very first round. Having earned this impressive win, Jessica Andrade now feels there’s no denying her a title fight with Rose Namajunas.

Tom Taylor - August 12, 2018

UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is now 2-0 over former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. That said, Jedrzejczyk remains adamant that she, not the reigning champ, is the best strawweight in the game. In the past, Rose Namajunas has said the only way she’ll give Joanna Jedrzejczyk another rematch is if Jedrzejczyk acknowledges that the new champ is the better fighter. Jedrzejczyk, however, has assured this is something she’ll never do.

Drake Riggs - August 2, 2018

After losing for the first time in her entire MMA career, and back to back at that, the former strawweight queen has gotten back in the win column. At UFC on Fox 30, Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeated Tecia Torres via clear unanimous decision. The fight was Jedrzejczyk’s first three-rounder since December 2014 in her and Claudia Gadelha’s first encounter.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

Conor McGregor tried to apologize to UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas after he nearly injured her in his infamous April rampage. He made this effort on Instagram, in a direct message to her. Unfortunately, she isn’t buying the Irish star’s apology. She explained why on the inaugural episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “I did get an Instagram message from him, but I don’t really know if that was really him,” Namajunas told Helwani (transcribed by Chamatkar Sandhu for ESPN). “To me, that doesn’t seem like the type of, it just didn’t seem like a sincere apology from an actual person. To me, I didn’t really, I guess, consider it a real apology.”

Tom Taylor - May 22, 2018

For a time, Joanna Jedrzejczyk looked truly unstoppable as the UFC strawweight champion. Then, in November of 2017, her reign came to a shocking and violent end, as she was put down by a salvo of first-round Rose Namajunas punches. Given her previous dominance, Jedrzejczyk was given the chance to reclaim her title from Namajunas in an immediate rematch in April. In the end, however, she fell to 0-2 against the new champion, giving up a close but fair unanimous decision.

Drake Riggs - May 9, 2018

“You could just kind of tell by my performance [if the incident messed me up]. Everything I said after in the press conference, is kind of like, you know, my feelings on the issue.

Tom Taylor - April 17, 2018

In November of 2017, long-time UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk succumbed to a first-round knockout dealt by unheralded challenger Rose Namajunas, surrendering her title as a result. Earlier this month, in the co-main event of UFC 223, Jedrzejczyk failed to reclaim that title, giving up a close decision to Namajunas in the pair’s anticipated rematch. While the judges awarded the decision to Namajunas in this rematch, however, Jedrzejczyk has repeatedly stated that she feels the fight should have been scored in her favor. Her main argument to this end is that she technically landed more strikes than her foe.