UFC Fight Night: Rose Namajunas still believes that second divisional title is within reach despite setback

Throughout four appearances inside the Octagon at 125 pounds, former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is just 2-2 with competitive losses against two of the top fighters that the deepest division in women’s MMA has to offer. 

To some, that has been enough evidence to suggest that the 32-year-old Namajunas might be in the wrong division. Others, who previously watched Namajunas make her 2014 UFC debut in a 115-pound title fight before competing on top for the next decade, have questioned whether her best days are long behind her and that she hasn’t been the same since parting ways with longtime trainer Trevor Wittman in recent years. 

Namajunas, however, looks at it all a bit differently and believes she isn’t that far away from her goal of becoming a two-division champion. In one sense, her 13-7 career record speaks to her often mercurial nature in big fights but it also fails to represent just how great she can be when all things are properly aligned mentally for the native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Citing the adjustment period it takes physically for one to get used to a new weight division and the lessons learned from recent defeats against Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield, Namajunas believes she’s just now settling into who she will be at flyweight entering Saturday’s return against former sparring partner Miranda Maverick (15-5) in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

“It’s kind of crazy to think about all of the ups and downs that I have been through. It’s been a cool journey but I’m still here and I’m still swinging,” Namajunas told CBS Sports on Tuesday. “I have a lot of fight left in me so I’m excited. I know what I’m capable of so it is a little frustrating feeling like I know I could do better [at flyweight]. 

“It’s just kind of one of those things where I need to commit to God’s plan because I made some realizations and adjustments in my training. I was holding myself back and I didn’t even know that I was doing that. It’s one of those realizations where it’s better to realize it now and hopefully that transitions into the fight. I’m hoping that I’m not crazy and that the adjustments are the decision maker.”  

Some of those realizations, spurred on by the mental support of her trainer, fiancee and former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry, have surrounded Namajunas realizing her lack of internal balance while giving her opponents too much respect inside the cage. 

“I think it’s just, in reality, something else is going on in my mind than has really been going on,” said Namajunas, who has long been an outspoken mental health advocate. “I think I was just overthinking in my mind.”

Namajunas admits she defeated herself mentally in her final strawweight bout, a lifeless decision loss to Carla Esparza in their 2022 title rematch. A long layoff of 16 months ensued before Namajunas returned to face future title challenger Manon Fiorot in her flyweight debut.

After being slowed by a broken pinky finger suffered in the first round, Namajunas rallied in Round 3 to find her rhythm by twice hurting Fiorot with strikes en route to a close decision defeat. She now refers to the fight as the perfect learning experience.  

A pair of five-round decision wins over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez followed for Namajunas in main events until a step-up fight against Blanchfield last November ended with another close loss via identical 48-47 scores from all three judges.

“[The Fiorot loss] was a little unfortunate because I knew I could beat her,” Namajunas said. “Everybody thought she was too big but, to me, the size don’t really matter. Sometimes, smaller people are tougher to deal with depending upon who it is. Hats off to her but it took me the whole second round to be able to shake off [her broken finger] in my head.”

“[Against Blanchfield,] I was so close, I was right there. I think I needed a bit more will power and determination. It just sucks when it’s so close like that and you just come up short. I just want to do my best, whatever that ends up being. I just really want to do better.”

Namajunas, who said she could still make 115 pounds without killing herself, admits she has heard the whispers of others saying, “Dude, go back to strawweight.” But due to her body naturally growing with age, she prefers to compete in her 30s within a division that’s closer to her walk-around weight. 

There’s also the idea of legacy. With wins over former champions like Jessica Andrade and Joanna Jedrzejczyk (twice), along with a pair of prior victories over the current strawweight queen, Zhang Weili, Namajunas knows she is already firmly in the discussion of greatest fighters in 115-pound history and doesn’t feel like there is anything left for her to prove within the division.

“What we do is already dangerous as it is but when you are adding the dehydration and stuff, I just really didn’t like it,” Namajunas said. “I also have this goal of becoming two-division champion still. I already achieved all of the goals at strawweight that I had wanted to achieve: I became champion, defended it and all this stuff. Sure, I could go back down there and I think I could become champion again if I really wanted to but I just feel like I have been there and done that already. 

“The adjustment to make a new weight class takes time and I don’t want to waste time doing something that I already did.”

Namajunas said she has sparred with the Maverick numerous times over the past two years and feels like she knows her tendencies. It was during that same two-year window, however, that the 27-year-old Maverick has stepped up her game considerably as the UFC’s 11th-ranked flyweight the bout against the No. 7 Namajunas riding a four-fight win streak, albeit against lesser competition. 

“Thug Rose” believes a win over Maverick, which would improve her flyweight record to 3-2, could put her back in striking distance of an eventual title shot.

“[Maverick] wants my spot and I have to show her that she needs to find a different spot,” Namajunas said. “I think it’s all just about performing the best that I can and just being myself, I just really feel like as long as I can show that to the rest of the world, I will be either one away from a title shot or right there.”