If she can’t get her hands on the flyweight title just yet, ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas would love to compete for the first-ever women’s BMF belt.
Returning to her home away from home, Denver, Colorado, the former two-time strawweight queen scored her second-straight win at 125, besting short-notice replacement Tracy Cortez in an entertaining five-round affair to close out the UFC’s return to The Centennial State on Saturday night.
After knocking down Cortez early, Namajunas asserted her dominance throughout the fight, mixing up her striking and her wrestling to score a unanimous decision victory over her opponent.
Immediately following the fight, Namajunas called for a shot at the flyweight title, currently held by Mexico’s own Alexa Grasso. However, if she can’t get that quite yet, she’d love a crack at bringing a women’s BMF belt to The Mile High City.
THUG ROSE x CHAMP CHAMP?
Rose Namajunas is calling for a title shot or a woman's BMF!#UFCDenver | LIVE on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/DfLIz5AUWV
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 14, 2024
“Give me the belt, man. I want it. I’m Colorado’s first UFC champion so I want to bring a second one back here,” Namajunas said in her post-fight interview with Paul Felder. “Either that or a women’s BMF, I don’t know.”
When looking at the list of female UFC fighters badass enough to compete for a BMF belt, Rose Namajunas undoubtedly lands right near the top.
Rose Namajunas Likely needs one more win to secure a flyweight title shot
With her win over Cortez, ‘Thug’ will most certainly hang on to her No. 6 ranking in the flyweight division, though it remains to be seen if the victory will move her up the ladder at all considering Cortez is ranked just outside the top 10.
Originally, Namajunas was scheduled to square off with top-five contender Maycee Barber until ‘The Future’ was forced to bow out due to an unfortunate illness.
With Grasso expected to defend the 125-pound crown against former champion Valentina Shevchenko in a highly anticipated trilogy bout this September, perhaps the promotion will rebook Barber and Namajunas.
Only time will tell, but regardless of who comes out on top in that potential matchup, the winner will have to get behind No. 2 ranked Manon Fiorot who has done more than enough to earn her shot at the winner of Grasso vs. Shevchenko 3.
