Rose Namajunas has been called the “next Ronda Rousey” by the bantamweight champ herself, according to Elias Cepeda of Yahoo. All of her professional wins and her victories on The Ultimate Fighter 20 have come via submission, including a 12-second win via flying armbar.
However, her loss to Carla Esparza in the TUF 20 finale put a little dent into her billing as the next great female fighter.
On the flip side, Joanna Jedrzejczyk burst onto the scene out of nowhere. Her upset of Claudia Gadelha in her second UFC fight put her in title contention. At UFC 185, she demonstrated her amazing hand speed and takedown defense in a rout over Esparza to become the new strawweight champion.
Jedrzejczyk and Namajunas are probably the two most exciting fighters in the women’s strawweight division. Allowing Namajunas to develop her fight game could make a Jedrzejczyk vs. Namajunas matchup a highly anticipated one in a year or two.
Gadelha’s match against Jedrzejczyk demonstrated the one flaw in the Polish fighter’s style, which is her susceptibility to takedowns when against the cage. The only successful takedown that Esparza had at UFC 185 was when she was able to push Jedrzejczyk to the cage. As a submission artist, if Namajunas can get the strawweight champion to the ground and keep her there, she should have a good chance of executing a submission.
However, getting a takedown on Jedrzejczyk isn’t easy. She has excellent takedown defense, and even if you do take her down, she will make you work to keep her there. She is strong and can eventually get to her feet and force an opponent to fight her game. Also, her match against Gadelha showcased her ability to fight off submission attempts.
Can Namajunas get Jedrzejczyk into a flying armbar? Possibly. But that involves getting into a thai clinch with her. And Jedrzejczyk has demonstrated if you try to get inside on her, she’ll make you pay.
However, Namajunas does have a chin. In her loss against Tecia Torres, she ate many of Torres’ shots and kept moving forward. She’s definitely not afraid to keep a fight standing and trade shots if necessary. If she could take some shots from Jedrzejczyk and keep moving forward, that could frustrate the champion.
Maybe all it takes for Namajunas is time. She is only 22 years old and has a long career ahead of her. And she has the mental tools to become an elite MMA fighter.
She handled her loss against Esparza with maturity and grace, as she called the loss “an investment in her future,” according to MMAJunkie.com.
Namajunas further elaborated on her loss on The MMA Hour, telling Ariel Helwani, “I kinda went in there crazy with emotion, like a young kid.”
After her loss to Esparza, it seems the pressure is off Namajunas. She can now focus on developing her arsenal to make a run for the title.
When she does get there, her showdown against Jedrzejczyk should provide fireworks.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com