Rose Namajunas tries to get revenge on Tecia Torres for a three old year fight this weekend in Florida for UFC on FOX 19, and here are the three things you need to know.
A rematch between two of the better TUF participants in recent memory continue their fight narrative this April 16, 2016 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
The Match Up
Women’s Strawweight Rose Namajunas 4-2 vs. Tecia Torres 7-0
The Odds
Women’s Strawweight Rose Namajunas -230 vs. Tecia Torres +190
3 Things You Should Know
1. That Rose win over PVZ wasn’t just about PVZ’s development. It was also about Rose’s arrival.
While a lot of bandwidth was devoted to Paige Van Zant being “exposed”, or not being “ready against the elite”, the narrative zigged instead of zagged. Sure, there’s some fun to be had at Dana White’s aggressive marketing of fighters without belts. But I don’t think people appreciate who PVZ is, as a fighter. She’s a developing fighter with a wicked rhythm who ran into a superior fighter with a authoritative rhythm. Rose looked better than ever, and not just for drawing comparisons to Furiosa.
2. Tecia may not be lighting the world on fire with her style, but you better believe she’s a player in the division.
Torres doesn’t have a lot of cache with fans. With a style that is active, but not pleasing for those craving a little more blood in their fight diet, she doesn’t offer much. And her time in the cage has occasionally been wasted, like finding out whether Angela Magana stood a chance in hell. But she’s playing the quiet game in the division, not asking questions, but just winning fights. Her perfect professional record is no accident.
3. This fight will look nothing their first bout, but it projects to be just as competitive.
It’s quite clear who has developed quicker. Namajunas is just 23 years old, which is easy to forget given the stage she’s fought on. The biggest change to Rose’s game is her rhythm. Where before, she was looking to pour the offense on her opponent, now she drizzles in the most violent way. As in, she’s not trying to win every different way all at once.
Her striking is unique in the way she doesn’t need to fire wild shots, or explode into punches to stun opponents. She chambers each strike with conviction, and moves on. Like a female Joachim Hansen, her long limbs make for some readily usable knees to compound her arsenal. Defensively, her wrestling could use more work, but it’s to her credit that I use the word “more”, as she’s improved upon this aspect big time. Of course, part of this is aided by her threatening, active submission work.
Tecia is a very X’s and O’s fighter. She enters the pocket with combinations, and exists the pocket. Rinse, repeat. Despite her height, she uses every sweat bead’s worth of length, throwing side kicks to command control even in the center of the octagon. It’s the part of her game that makes her so durable. She’s powerful in top control, but she has to work extra hard to close the distance, where her athleticism usually takes over.
Prediction
The issue I have with Torres is that Rose is no longer so easily brought down. Not only that but the timing of her strikes has greatly improved. I don’t think Namajunas should be the substantial favorite. Torres is tough, and won’t allow Rose to just enter the pocket like PVZ did. But this version of Namajunas would have beaten Torres from three years ago, and Torres isn’t the substantially different fighter. Rose Namajunas by Decision.