Despite her dominance as champion, Rose Namajunas doesn’t think Joanna Jedrzejczyk is deserving of an immediate rematch.
Rose Namajunas shocked the world at UFC 217, knocking out Joanna Jedrzejczyk at Madison Square Garden to win the women’s strawweight title. But ‘Thug’ wants fans – and Joanna – to know that it was no ‘fluke’.
Due to her former dominance as champion, Jedrzejczyk believes she is deserving of an immediate rematch, but Namajunas, who forced Joanna to tap out due to strikes in the first round, doesn’t think her first title defense should be a rematch.
“I don’t think so,” Namajunas told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour when asked if Jedrzejczyk is deserving of an instant rematch (h/t Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting). “I don’t know how that could … anything is possible, right? A first-round knockout and she tapped due to strikes. Even though she was still stumbling afterwards, there was still some part of her that tapped. Not a fluke.”
Namajunas is still celebrating the win with her friends and family and hasn’t given much thought to her next opponent, but the 25-year-old would like to fight a fresh contender.
“I thought about the idea of the rest of the division and I wonder who’s gonna call me out and things like that,” Namajunas said. “But I haven’t really thought about who I want to fight yet, no. All I’ve been thinking about the next step — other than decompress, things like that and have a little fun and see the rest of my friends and family — is just making sure our team is tight and solid.”
After her stunning win over Jedrzejczyk, Namajunas has been called out by top strawweight contender Jessica Andrade, who recently beat Claudia Gadhela at UFC Fight Night 117 and has promised not to make the mistake of underestimating the newly-crowned champ.