Rose Namajunas News

Justin Golightly - November 15, 2017

At UFC 217, Rose Namajunas marched in there and did the unthinkable. In one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, Namajunas took out Joanna Jedrzejczyk and was crowned the new UFC strawweight champion. Given that she had been so incredibly dominant in her title reign, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the UFC to give her an immediate rematch against Thug Rose. While that’s not official yet, Jedrzejczyk does know when she’ll be back inside the Octagon. According to a translation of the video above provided by Bartek Stachura from Lowking.pl, Joanna Jedrzejczyk met with Dana White right after UFC 217 and lined up an April or May return to the Octagon against whoever has the UFC strawweight belt. She’ll be taking two months off and doesn’t care if it is an immediate rematch with Rose Namajunas or not, it’s just whoever has the belt.

Justin Golightly - November 11, 2017

Before making her return to the UFC, Angela Hill strung together a four-fight win streak and captured the strawweight title in Invicta FC. The last loss she had before leaving the organization was against Rose Namajunas. That was only two years ago, but it’s wild to see how much has changed within that short time. While Hill is still unranked, her plan is to stack some wins together to eventually have a chance to avenge her loss to the new UFC strawweight champion. “I’ve always wanted my rematches, but I wanted to make sure that I was ready when I did have those rematches. You know, everyone’s on the list that I’ve lost to when it comes to that. But I definitely feel like I was a totally different fighter when I did fight [Rose Namajunas]. I was motivated to fight [Joanna Jedrzejczyk] when she was champ. I was hoping that I could work my way up to that. I was already thinking about what I was going to do for the face-off and everything. But now that she’s out of the picture, she’s still going to be around. I’d still love to fight her at some point. Yeah, I’m definitely going for that title run after I feel I’ve got enough wins, and I’ve impressed enough to get a go at [Namajunas].”

Justin Golightly - November 8, 2017

Fans and media weren’t the only ones shocked and celebrating Rose Namajunas putting on her incredible, belt-stealing performance against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217. Former title challenger Jessica Andrade compared her division’s reaction to a World Cup win. In a recent interview, she broke down how Namajunas did the unthinkable and wasted no time at all calling out the new champion. Things just got really interesting at women’s strawweight. “[Joanna Jedrzejczyk] definitely underestimated [Rose] Namajunas. She got in there as it was just another fight, that it would be easy. She was more aggressive, but she forgot that Namajunas is taller than her previous opponents, like me and Claudia [Gadelha], and has a bigger reach. That’s how Namajunas found the opening. Namajunas trained for that and did a great job. I was rooting for Namajunas to win. When I saw her going down the first time, I said ‘damn, this will be good.’ When Namajunas dropped her the second time and knocked her out, I said ‘I can’t believe it.’ It was like a World Cup game, you know? Everybody screaming and celebrating because it’s easier now for the division to move and we have another opportunity to fight for the belt again.”

Russell Ess - November 8, 2017

Rose Namajunas was stone cold leading up to UFC 217 where she was a big underdog going up against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who was looking for her sixth straight title defense. Nothing seemed to have gotten Namajunas off her focused mindset, not even Jedrzejczyk placing her fist on “Thug’s” face during their staredown days before their fight.

Russell Ess - November 6, 2017

I am so proud of you @rosenamajunas A post shared by Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@justin_gaethje) on Nov 4, 2017 at 8:30pm PDT

Chris Taylor - November 5, 2017

Rose Namajunas earned a shocking first-round KO victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk last night at UFC 217 thus earning the promotions coveted strawweight championship. Rose’s victory at Madison Square Garden was nothing short of flawless and earned “Thug” a ton of praise from her peers on social media.

Chris Taylor - November 5, 2017

Rose Namajunas shocked the mixed martial arts world last night in New York by scoring a first-round knockout victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk to claim the UFC strawweight title at Madison Square Garden. Following her jaw dropping victory, “Thug Rose” took to the podium at the UFC 217 post-fight press conference where she discussed her title-earning victory.

Tom Taylor - November 5, 2017

Last night in the first of three title fights on the stacked UFC 217 bill, Rose Namajunas stepped into the cage with the seemingly unstoppable Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Despite being one of the bigger underdogs on the card, Namajunas came through in the biggest way possible, knocking the champ out in the very first round. Here’s how Namajunas’ fellow pros reacted to her incredible first-round title win!

Chris Taylor - November 4, 2017

A women’s strawweight title fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas took place during tonight’s UFC 217 main card in New York. Round one begins and Rose lands a good low kick to start. Jedrzejczyk fires back with a left hand. Rose counters with a right. Namajunas seems to be very comfortable early. Joanna fires off a nice combination. Rose avoids any significant strikes and then drops Joanna with a right hand. She jumps on her and immediately and moves to mount. Joanna is taking some shots but works her way back to her feet. Joanna gets free and circles out. Rose catches her with a right hand and drops her to the floor. Rose jumps on Joanna and forces her to tapout to strikes! WOW!

Justin Golightly - November 4, 2017

Pat Barry is currently in hiding. pic.twitter.com/5uHPL1WCfU — caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) November 4, 2017

Justin Golightly - November 4, 2017

A match-up that threatens to steal the show tonight at the extremely stacked UFC 217 is Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s title defense against Rose Namajunas. It speaks to Jedrzejczyk’s presence and dominance in the sport that, among a name like Georges St-Pierre and one of the best fights on paper ever between Cody Garbrant and TJ Dillashaw, she holds her own. The combination of her skills and aura have written Namajunas off as someone who is a good fighter, but just not enough. MMA fighters as well as some prominent professionals in the business seem to agree. “Man, Joanna [Jedrzejczyk]. She’s a beast. I don’t see anybody in that division taking that title away from her, man. I wouldn’t want to step into the Octagon with her even though she’s like, what, 115lbs? She does work, man. I would not want to step out there with her. Great striking, great muay thai, good movement, good takedown defense, and she’s just a better all-around fighter than her opponent [Rose Namajunas].” — Stephen Thompson

Russell Ess - November 2, 2017

The UFC 217 pre-fight press conference took place on Thursday ahead of the stacked fight card taking place this weekend at the Madison Square Garden in New York. UFC 217 features three title fights. UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will take on Georges St-Pierre in the former welterweight champion’s first fight back since 2013. UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt faces former teammate and former champion TJ Dillashaw and UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk looks to tie Ronda Rousey‘s UFC record for most consecutive female title defenses against Rose Namajunas.

Justin Golightly - October 21, 2017

After putting her entire division on notice with an intense interview, Joanna Jedrzejczyk seems to be at the height of her confidence coming into her fight with Rose Namajunas in November. The title challenger won’t be moved though, even during their chilling staredown, Namajunas didn’t move an inch. She’s said she will not be one of Jedrzejczyk’s many opponents who lose before they even step into the cage. That won’t stop the UFC strawweight champion from trying though. Check out these murderous elbows and Jedrzejczyk’s next message to her opponent. New York City ‼️ Are You Ready ⁉️ @katelkubis & @mikebrownmma #strawweightqueen #joannachampion #joannajedrzejczyk #ufc217 #AndStill #ChampCamp #ATTnation

Justin Golightly - October 10, 2017

It was last Friday when probably the most intimidating women’s fighter on the planet stomped across the stage to stare into Rose Namajunas’ eyes. She’s basically dominated every UFC strawweight title hopeful in violent fashion. She’s known for her staredowns. Sometimes she’ll crouch down in some sort of animalistic way, making sure her face is glaring right into her mostly shorter opponents. However, things weren’t exactly the same at the UFC 217 press conference. Joanna Jedrzejczyk tried to shoot her laser glance at Namajunas but she just stood there, staring right through her. She didn’t seem intimidated, she seemed focused and cold. Rose Namajunas recently spoke about not being beat before the fight even starts. “I think that they almost lose the fight [with Joanna Jedrzejczyk] before it even starts. You see that with all the greatest in the world or all the greatest of all time. They all have this intimidation factor and it’s for a reason. It’s not just, ‘Oh, they play mind games.’ They can smell it off of them. They’re not joking around. I think that a lot of the opponents she’s faced, not all of them, but they’re afraid of her and it shows.”

Russell Ess - April 18, 2017

There has yet to be a female mixed martial arts star as popular as Ronda Rousey but that may all change soon.

Russell Ess - April 17, 2017

UFC strawweight Michelle Waterson lost for the first time in the UFC over the weekend. Waterson met Rose Namajunas at UFC on FOX 24 and was submitted in the second round by a rear-naked choke locked on by Namajunas.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 24, fan favorite strawweight “The Karate Hottie” Michelle Waterson stepped onto the canvas with the ever-dangerous Rose Namajunas. Had she won this fight, she likely would have earned herself a shot at the winner of Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade’s strawweight title fight, which is scheduled for UFC 211 this May 13. Regrettably for Waterson and her legions of fans, it was simply Namajunas’ night.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 24, strawweight star Rose Namajunas dominated the dangerous Michelle Waterson to a second-round submission win, establishing herself as the division’s top contender as she did. Having done so, she can now probably look forward to a fight with the winner of UFC 211’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Jessica Andrade title fight sometime later this year – at least, that’s her hope. Speaking to the media in the moments after UFC on Fox 24, Namajunas explained that her goal is to capture the UFC strawweight title before the year is out.