Tag: Manon Fiorot

Ex-Strawweight champ ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas slams critics claiming she’s too small for flyweight

Namajunas‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas‘ move to flyweight has been heavily criticized by a plethora of fighters and fans. You can now add former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson to that ever-growing list. Despite capturing the strawweight title on two separate occasions and owning two wins over the division’s current queen, Zhang Weili, Rose Namajunas opted to […]

Namajunas

‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas‘ move to flyweight has been heavily criticized by a plethora of fighters and fans. You can now add former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson to that ever-growing list.

Despite capturing the strawweight title on two separate occasions and owning two wins over the division’s current queen, Zhang Weili, Rose Namajunas opted to move from 115 to 125 for her long-awaited return at UFC Paris on Saturday. She immediately jumped into the flyweight fire, taking on No. 2 ranked contender Manon Fiorot in the co-main event of the evening.

Namajunas came up short, suffering a unanimous decision defeat with many suggesting that the sheer size difference between the two women played the biggest factor.

“I thought Fiorot was just the bigger fighter and all of her shots had a lot more impact on Rose,” Thomson said on his Weighing In podcast. “I feel like Rose Namajunas is sabotaging her career. Like, what are you doing? She is so talented, and you are considered to be one of the best in the 115-pound division. Why are you going up?

“Maybe it was for one fight — I hope you go back down,” he continued. “You could be the champ again. I mean, if you wanna get motivated, stay motivated, whatever it is. I just feel like she’s sabotaging herself. She doesn’t know how to handle this success or she just doesn’t want to have success around her” (h/t MMA Mania).

Namajunas Snaps Back at Manon Fiorot’s Post-Fight Comments

Rose Namajunas’ UFC Paris opponent, Manon Fiorot, echoed similar sentiments during her post-fight interview.

“I’m pretty sure she wanted to wrestle me, but for her, it’s impossible to take me down,” Fiorot said. “I think it’s not her category. The flyweights are too strong for her.”

With criticism flying at her from every direction, Rose Namajunas snapped back in a video clip shared by her manager.

“I’m not too small for Flyweight — there’s no way,” a fired-up Namajuas claimed. “I dropped her a**. How am I too small? Maybe I had some moments where I was, like, stumbling over, or I wasn’t totally in position. But I’m like, ‘Dude, you felt no stronger than Weili. You felt no stronger than Weili, and I beat her a** twice.’ So shut the f*ck up. I’m not too small for flyweight.

“You can say anything else,” she added. “You can say you beat me on points, okay? But you can’t say I’m too small for flyweight. And you can’t say that I didn’t win a round because I for sure won at least one round if not two. But, that’s up for debate, right?”

Photo – Rose Namajunas shows off grisly hand injury suffered in bloody UFC Paris loss to Manon Fiorot

Rose Namajunas hand injury pictures after UFC Paris loss Manon FiorotFormer undisputed strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas fell to defeat in her flyweight divisional bow last night in the co-main event of UFC Paris, however, early in the bout the ex-titleholder complained of a hand issue suffered in the bout – sharing images of a rather nasty and gruesome injury to her smallest finger on her […]

Rose Namajunas hand injury pictures after UFC Paris loss Manon Fiorot

Former undisputed strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas fell to defeat in her flyweight divisional bow last night in the co-main event of UFC Paris, however, early in the bout the ex-titleholder complained of a hand issue suffered in the bout – sharing images of a rather nasty and gruesome injury to her smallest finger on her right hand.

Namajunas a former undisputed strawweight champion under the banner of the promotion, co-headlined UFC Paris last night against promotional-perfect contender, Fiorot – dropping a comprehensive unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) loss to the Nice native over the course of three rounds. 

The defeat came as Wisconsin native, Namajunas’ second on the trot, having most recently dropped her strawweight crown in a title rematch against inaugural champion, Carla Esparza back in May of last year – in an admittedly forgettable championship fight.

Coached by long-time partner and former UFC heavyweight contender, Pat Barry during last night’s French outing, Namajunas complained of discomfort in her right hand at the close of the opening round of her bout with Fiorot, appearing to suffer an injury.

Rose Namajunas suffers brutal hand injury in her UFC Paris defeat to Manon Fiorot

And following her decision loss to the bloodied Fiorot – photos of Namajunas’ hand injury in detail were posted across social media.

“This is how Rose Namajunas’ right hand looked last night when she took off her gloves,” Ariel Helwani posted on X. “The injury happened in the first.” 

As for Fiorot, the surging French contender has called her shot at the flyweight crown next, eyeing a title showdown against the victor of the upcoming Noche UFC rematch between pound-for-pound number one, Alexa Grasso, and former champion, Valentina Shevchenko – which takes in two weeks’ time in Las Vegas. 

Who would you like to see Rose Namajunas fight in her return to the Octagon?

Manon Fiorot defeats ex-Champion Rose Namajunas in bloody back and forth win – UFC Paris Highlights

Manon Fiorot lands decision win over Rose Namajunas at UFC Paris HighlightsTurning in the most high-profile victory of her perfect promotional tenure to date, surging French contender, Manon Fiorot has likely earned herself a flyweight title opportunity — securing a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) victory over the returning former undisputed strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas in the co-main event of UFC Paris. Nice native, Fiorot, who […]

Manon Fiorot lands decision win over Rose Namajunas at UFC Paris Highlights

Turning in the most high-profile victory of her perfect promotional tenure to date, surging French contender, Manon Fiorot has likely earned herself a flyweight title opportunity — securing a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) victory over the returning former undisputed strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas in the co-main event of UFC Paris.

Nice native, Fiorot, who co-headlined tonight’s event at the Accor Arena, was forced to deal with a massive and gurshing cut on the right hand side of her head from the middle of the second round onward, with the French native clashing heads with Namajunas in an unintentional coming together of the striking duo.

Also dealing with some adversity early in the pairing, former strawweight champion, Namajunas complained to her partner and corner person, Pat Barry of a hand injury — particularly to her right smallest finger at the end of the opening round.

Making her flyweight divisional bow, Namajunas was forced the distance for the second outing consecutively, having dropped her strawweight title in a hugely disappointing title fight with Carla Esparza last time round.

And struggling to navigate the striking and timing, as well as the movement and distance control from French favorite, Manon Fiorot, Namajunas was forced to the losing column for the second straight outing, off the back of a decision defeat.

Below, catch the highlights from Manon Fiorot’s decision win over Rose Namajunas at UFC Paris

‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas ready to face her fears in flyweight move: ‘I want something that scares me’

NamajunasAfter climbing to the top of the strawweight mountain on two separate occasions, ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas is ready for a new challenge. On September 2, the former two-time queen of the 115-pound division will make her first appearance in well over a year as she is set to make her flyweight debut against top-five contender […]

Namajunas

After climbing to the top of the strawweight mountain on two separate occasions, ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas is ready for a new challenge.

On September 2, the former two-time queen of the 115-pound division will make her first appearance in well over a year as she is set to make her flyweight debut against top-five contender Manon Fiorot. The decision to move weight classes comes following her lackluster showing against Carla Esparza in May 2022.

Rose Namajunas walked into the bout with UFC gold and a heap of momentum, but she ultimately came up short, surrendering the strap to Esparza in what many fight fans were quick to call the worst title fight in the promotion’s 30-year history. With plenty of time to reflect on her fall, Namajunas is ready to pick herself up and climb to the top once again. But this time, the view will be significantly different.

Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Rose Namajunas revealed that her plan to move up a weight class was something she had always thought about. Particularly as she got older and her body began to change, making weight cuts more strenuous with each fight.

“Definitely after the Carla fight [at UFC 274], I think that was—win or lose—I was thinking about doing that anyways,” Namajunas said. “One, my body is changing, I started to mature. Early on in my career I never really cut that much weight up until the last few years. I think maybe when I fought Michelle Waterson, that was when I actually started to really put on size.

“Each fight it’s just been a little bit more and more. Even though I got better at cutting, I also felt like, this can’t be healthy. As much as I got mentally better at it, I think physically, I feel like I’m way stronger now. I also made a little bit of effort to put on a little more size, to actually intentionally get a little bigger and do a little more lifting and stuff and eating.”

Rose Namajunas Has No Interest in Fighting Zhang Weili for the Third Time

Namajunas is admittedly disinterested in a trilogy bout with reigning strawweight champion, Zhang Weili, giving her yet another reason to step out of her comfort zone and try her luck in the promotion’s stacked flyweight division.

“Weili’s the champ now, so what, I fight her a third time? I don’t know, it’s just not every interesting,” Namajunas continued. “I’ve already fought Andrade and this and that and now she’s gone back down… Weili’s the champ, so then I could just beat her again, but I don’t know, to me it’s more than that. I want something that scares me. I want to face my fears. It’s just always been a part of the plan and yeah, I could keep doing the same old thing, but as soon as this game gets redundant, I can get bored really quick and that’s not good for nobody. So I need to keep it fresh and interesting.”

During her time away from the Octagon, Namajunas had received multiple fight offers, but the chance to compete against No. 2 ranked contender Manon Fiorot was the only one that excited her enough to sign on the dotted line.

“I had gotten a lot of fight offers over the course of taking time off and that was the first time where I was like, ‘That sounds interesting,’” Namajunas said when asked about why she chose to fight Fiorot. “I thought about Paris and as much as I don’t like traveling I also don’t like a lot of other things that I also like equally. Of course, I love traveling. There’s so much to learn, there’s so much to see, and that’s just kind of like, ‘Lazy Rose doesn’t want to travel, or Comfortable Rose doesn’t want to travel,’ but all these things help me grow and they expand my horizons.

“I had one of the best experiences going to Abu Dhabi, as much as I feared doing that. Nobody knew what was happening during COVID and all that stuff, it was like the most rewarding experience ever. Even though I smashed my nose, it was also one of the best things that happened ever. As much as I don’t like these things sometimes, I know that this is medicine for me, this is good for me.”

Fiorot goes into the bout riding an undefeated record inside the Octagon, with five straight wins against some very serious talent, including Victoria Leonardo, Tabitha Ricci, Mayra Bueno Silva, Jennifer Maia, and Katlyn Chookagian. With a W over Rose Namajunas, Fiorot will undoubtedly be next in line for a flyweight title opportunity.

“Overall, I just think Manon as an opponent is exciting too,” Namajunas said. “She’s a true martial artist. She’s not just a fighter or an athlete. She’s all of those things, but I remember watching her, I think she came off of the Contender Series, ‘She’s pretty badass. She has some real striking skills.’

“I like girls that can strike. I like girls that are overall MMA well-rounded, which she is, but definitely her karate background and her style and everything, even her little attitude, her whole swagger, that’s something that brings out the competitor in me and I love that” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Breaking – Ex-Champion Rose Namajunas books Octagon return at UFC Paris event in September

Rose Namajunas set to fight Manon Fiorot in flyweight debut at UFC Paris in SeptemberFormer two-time undisputed strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas is set to snap her longstanding Octagon hiatus later this year, booking a flyweight debut against surging French contender, Manon Fiorot at UFC Fight Night Paris on September 2. from the Accor Arena. Namajunas, the current number two ranked strawweight contender, has been sidelined from the Octagon since […]

Rose Namajunas set to fight Manon Fiorot in flyweight debut at UFC Paris in September

Former two-time undisputed strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas is set to snap her longstanding Octagon hiatus later this year, booking a flyweight debut against surging French contender, Manon Fiorot at UFC Fight Night Paris on September 2. from the Accor Arena.

Namajunas, the current number two ranked strawweight contender, has been sidelined from the Octagon since she co-headlined UFC 274 back in May of last year in Arizona, dropping her undisputed strawweight title in a forgettable championship decision rematch with Carla Esparza.

As for Fiorot, the Nice favorite returns to her native France as the current number two ranked flyweight contender, most recently turning in her fifth consecutive Octagon win in a unanimous decision victory against former title challenger, Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 280 back in October of last year in the Middle East.

Rose Namajunas is set for a division leap in September in a trip to France

MMA Junkie reports, Farah Hannoun, and Nolan King first reported the news of Rose Namajunas’ return and flyweight debut against French favorite, Manon Fiorot. 

11-5 as a professional, Namajunas, a staple under the tutelage of both former UFC heavyweight, Pat Barry, and ONX Labs technician, Trevor Wittman, has reclaimed strawweight gold back in April 2021, defeating Chinese favorite and current champion, Zhang Weili with a thunderous high kick KO in just over a minute.

Defending the title against the Hebei native in an immediate championship re-run at UFC 268 of that year at Madison Square Garden, Rose Namajunas managed to land a close split decision win. 

Namajunas first struck gold with a shocking upset win over the then-promotional-perfect, Joanna Jedrzejczyk back in 2018 at UFC 223 – also at Madison Square Garden with a stunning first round ground strikes TKO victory.

10-1 as a professional, Fiorot who has shot through the flyweight rankings since her UFC bow back in January 2021, has so far turned in victories over Victoria Leonardo, Tabatha Ricci, Mayra Bueno Silva, as well as former flyweight title challengers, Jennifer Maia, and the aforenoted, Chookagian. 

UFC Fight Night Paris takes place on September 2. from the Accor Arena in Paris, France – with a heavyweight main between former interim champion, Ciryl Gane, and Sergei Spivak taking headlining honors. 

Chael Sonnen ‘Bothered’ By Valentina Shevchenko’s Octagon Interview At UFC 306

According to former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, Valentina Shevchenko left a key topic out of her Octagon interview inside the Sphere. Shevchenko was among the biggest winners to emerge from this past weekend’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, where she regained the women’s flyweight crown to start her second reign in the division. To […]

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen ‘Bothered’ By Valentina Shevchenko’s Octagon Interview At UFC 306 at MMA News.

According to former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, Valentina Shevchenko left a key topic out of her Octagon interview inside the Sphere.

Shevchenko was among the biggest winners to emerge from this past weekend’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, where she regained the women’s flyweight crown to start her second reign in the division.

To do so, “Bullet” got the better of Alexa Grasso at the third time of trying, upsetting the pro-Mexico crowd at the promotion’s second annual celebration of the nation’s independence day with a dominant grappling performance across five rounds.

Many were quick to express their disappointment with the lack of action in the Noche UFC co-headliner, but one former fighter-turned-analyst was left frustrated for a different reason…

Sonnen Criticizes Shevchenko For Omitting Fiorot From Post-Fight Interview

During the latest episode of his Good Guy / Bad Guy show alongside Daniel Cormier on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Sonnen outlined one aspect of the latest numbered card that he wasn’t the biggest fan of.

“The American Gangster” pointed to Shevchenko’s post-fight interview, questioning why she chose to focus on an abundance of thank yous instead of addressing the expected first challenger to her second divisional rule.

“Can I tell you what one of my least favorite parts (of UFC 306) was? It’s very simple,” Sonnen said. “There was an alternate that flew in and weighed in in case anything happened in the Grasso/Shevchenko fight, (Manon) Fiorot. … At a minimum, it would have been nice if Valentina mentioned her.

“I feel like it’s clear that Fiorot is next. She was almost that night. And after the fight, Valentina went in a different direction. She wanted to thank Hunter Campbell and Dana White as opposed to call out an opponent,” Sonnen continued. “I felt for Fiorot. To come over there, get licensed, go through all the medicals, go through the training camp, the weight cut, and there’s no opportunity, which means there’s not a very big check to split up with your team. At a minimum, you could have had a callout. … On a human level, to a degree, it bothered me.”

Fiorot successfully made weight last Friday as the backup fighter for the co-main event of the Sphere-held event. Her services were ultimately not required on fight night, and her title shot is instead expected to come off the back of a full preparation down the line.

Continue Reading Chael Sonnen ‘Bothered’ By Valentina Shevchenko’s Octagon Interview At UFC 306 at MMA News.