Former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is set to return to the UFC this weekend in Paris as she takes on Manon Fiorot. After losing her strawweight title to Carla Esparza at UFC 274 in 2022, she has decided to move up a weight class and begin a new journey. Her decision has left many incredulous, as they speculated her return to the UFC after a year-long hiatus against current strawweight champion Weili Zhang.
Many would have entreated her to challenge Zhang given her record against her, which stands at 2 back-to-back wins. Unfortunately for the fans, this will forever remain a distant dream as Thug Rose announced her retirement from the straw weight division.
Thug Rose returns SATURDAY 😤🌹@RoseNamajunas is officially back in our #UFCParis co-main!
[ 3pmET / 12pmPT Main Card | Live on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/EHrBNbmRwl
— UFC (@ufc) August 28, 2023
Interestingly, a win against Fiorot will immediately put Namajunas into title contention, as the former is ranked second in the flyweight division. This will put her in contention to be the only second woman to win titles at two different divisions in the UFC after ‘The Lioness‘ Amanda Nunes. This is easier said than done, as many believe Namajunas will have a disappointing outing at UFC Paris, and go home with a loss.
Reasons why Rose Namajunas will lose at flyweight
According to Namajunas’ peers, there are many reasons why she won’t fare well in the flyweight division, beginning with a year-long gap from action and her small stature. Thug Rose last fought in the UFC almost a year ago and lost her title to Esparza in an uninspiring bout that saw her land only 38 of her attempted 137 strikes over five rounds.
Secondly, the pressure to perform and be entertaining after that loss can be too much to overcome, even for someone like Namajunas. Speaking after that loss, she realized the pressure of being entertaining, stating, “It is part of my job with respect to being an entertainer. I’m not gonna take for granted that I have a special gift in that that’s what people watch me for. I want to give a little more appreciation to that and not just be like, ‘Screw you guys.’”
The Return of Rose! 🌹@RoseNamajunas is back at #UFCParis this Saturday! pic.twitter.com/XtTPWela4J
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 30, 2023
Thirdly, it seems like after her loss; she suffered a crisis of faith and lost her drive to be the very best after achieving so much earlier. The same was seen in former featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who after becoming a two-division champion and taking that big-money boxing fight against Floyd Mayweather, had a stint of disappointing performances in the UFC.
All this, coupled with her recent loss to Gillian Robertson in a grappling match at Fury Pro Grappling 6 makes it unlikely for her to go back to winning ways. To add insult to injury Robertson, an unranked UFC flyweight required only 65 seconds to finish Namajunas. What do you guys think? Will Thug Rose prove her haters wrong? Or will she return home empty-handed?
