Former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is the only fighter on the UFC roster who doesn’t want to compete during the COVID-19 pandemic according to the promotions president Dana White.
Namajunas was due to rematch Jessica Andrade at UFC 249 but withdrew from the card. At first, her reason for pulling out was unknown but her management team later confirmed she had multiple coronavirus deaths in the family – check out the statement below.
“Immediate release: @rosenamajunas withdrew from UFC 249 due to 2 deaths in the family related to the Coronavirus,” the statement read. “Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible but for now we ask for people to respect their privacy during this time.”
Speaking post-fight at UFC Florida, White was asked if he is struggling to get fighters to compete during the global pandemic. The UFC boss said not at all. As far as he knows Namajunas if the only fighter on the roster who doesn’t want to compete right now, he said.
“Guys are training, people are training right now. People want to fight. So I don’t see an issue making a fight with anybody right now. Other than Rose — there might be others, I don’t know if this is a fact — but I don’t think there is anybody else who has brought up issues about fighting right now.” (Transcribed by BJPenn.com)
‘Thug Rose’ hasn’t fought since losing her 115lb title against Andrade in May 2019. Namajunas looked fantastic in the early goings but was ultimately knocked out cold by a slam from the Brazilian in round two. Since then Andrade has gone on to lose her title against Weili Zhang who made a successful first defence of the title last time out against former strawweight queen Joanna J?drzejczyk. The winner of Namajunas vs. Andrade II was expected to be the next in line for a shot to reclaim the title.
Is Dana White being unfair by singling out Rose Namajunas for not fighting during the COVID-19 pandemic?