Tag: Rose Namajunas vs. Michelle Waterson

Rose Namajunas: I’ve Been Knowing I’m The ‘Next Ronda Rousey’

A few years back, UFC President Dana White said that the next Ronda Rousey was competing on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 20 and he was talking about No. 4-ranked women’s strawweight contender Rose Namajunas. Unfortunately, Namajunas ended up being submitted by Carla Esparza in the inaugural UFC 115-pound title fight, which served as the

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A few years back, UFC President Dana White said that the next Ronda Rousey was competing on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 20 and he was talking about No. 4-ranked women’s strawweight contender Rose Namajunas.

Unfortunately, Namajunas ended up being submitted by Carla Esparza in the inaugural UFC 115-pound title fight, which served as the show’s finale. Since then, she has won three of four, with her most recent victory coming in the form of an impressive submission win over Michelle Waterson in the co-main event of last weekend’s (April 15, 2017) UFC on FOX 24.

With a title shot potentially looming on the horizon, “Thug” Rose appears to be in peak form and as far she’s concerned, she has always been the next Ronda Rousey:

“I’ve been knowing that,” Namajunas told TMZ about being the successor to Ronda Rousey. “It’s just a matter of whether or not people like me.”

Rousey has obviously experienced quite a fall from grace as of late and it’s unclear whether or not she’ll ever fight again. Either way, she remains as the biggest star in the history of women’s MMA and Namajunas appears to be on her way towards becoming a star as well.

Do you see “Thug” Rose as a future champion?

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Rose Namajunas Hands Out Her Online Passwords After Big Win

No. 4-ranked UFC women’s strawweight contender Rose Namajunas bounced back in the co-main event of last night’s (April 15, 2017) UFC on FOX 24 with an impressive submission victory over former Invicta champion Michelle Waterson. Although she admits that she made a few mistakes in the opening round, “Thug” Rose said that she was simply

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No. 4-ranked UFC women’s strawweight contender Rose Namajunas bounced back in the co-main event of last night’s (April 15, 2017) UFC on FOX 24 with an impressive submission victory over former Invicta champion Michelle Waterson.

Although she admits that she made a few mistakes in the opening round, “Thug” Rose said that she was simply ‘flowing’ in the Octagon:

“I just was flowing out there,” Namajunas said at Saturday night’s post-fight press conference. “I felt like I made a few mistakes in the first round, but I just had to stay calm and go back to the corner and take a deep breath. And the second round, I knew it was gonna come together.”

When all was said and done, Namajunas appeared to have shut down Waterson, which she said was the plan:

“Shutting down people’s best weapon is definitely the key to beating your opponent, and that was kind of my way of doing that,” Namajunas said. “I actually planned on doing that beforehand because I knew she was going to do that. I know the Jackson camp, they like to attack the knees like that a lot. Jon Jones is pretty notorious for that. It still was messing me up, too. I knew she was gonna do it, but it was just really quick and it was kinda throwing me off just a little bit, but I just made it up in my mind that that wasn’t gonna bother me. It’s just a defensive tactic. I’m not gonna let that break me and I’m gonna break her with it, knowing that it’s not bothering me.”

In the aftermath of her impressive victory, Namajunas made it clear that she would like to take on the winner of UFC 211’s title bout between champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challenger Jessica Andrade. In fact, she even changed her online passwords to be in sync with her goals of becoming the next 115-pound titleholder:

“There’s no need to get too specific right this second, but I changed all my e-mail and computer passwords to ‘And New 2017,’ so that’s what I have in mind, just that general goal. So, (I want to be champion) sometime before the year’s over with, but I don’t want to put a specific stamp on it yet.”

Do you see Namajunas claiming gold by the end of the year?

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Rose Namajunas Looking To Create Another ‘Highlight’ Against Michelle Waterson

No. 4-ranked women’s strawweight contender “Thug” Rose Namajunas is set to take on No. 6-ranked Michelle Waterson in the co-main event of this weekend’s (April 15, 2017) UFC on FOX 24 from Kansas City in what could potentially be deemed a title eliminator bout. Namajunas is coming off of a loss to former title challenger

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No. 4-ranked women’s strawweight contender “Thug” Rose Namajunas is set to take on No. 6-ranked Michelle Waterson in the co-main event of this weekend’s (April 15, 2017) UFC on FOX 24 from Kansas City in what could potentially be deemed a title eliminator bout.

Namajunas is coming off of a loss to former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz last July at UFC 201, while Waterson is coming off of an impressive first round submission victory over Paige VanZant this past December. However, Namajunas doesn’t feel as if “The Karate Hottie” has fought a fighter of her ‘caliber’:

“I can’t really think of anybody that she’s fought that is of my caliber,” Namajunas told the Fight Society podcast (Via FOX Sports) this week. “At the same time, it’s hard for me to really put myself in the same category as anybody else. I’m just different, I’m very unique, very hard to know what I’m going to do.

“She shows that she belongs in the UFC. Obviously, I already knew that she was that caliber of fighter before getting into the UFC when she was in Invicta. It just so happened she had the belt at the time or she was just fighting at atomweight. I’m happy she’s in the UFC. Her fights are pretty exciting. I guess she hasn’t really fought anybody like me yet so that’s definitely going to be a different story. All her other fights in the UFC she’s been pretty dominant and have been pretty exciting.”

As a former Invicta champion, Waterson certainly represents a legitimate challenge, but “Thug” Rose claims that she will be comfortable no matter where the fight ends up:

“I think she’s going to try and strike with me at first but it’s going to turn into a desperate attempt to get it to the ground,” Namajunas said. “I think so [that’s where everything backfires].

“I think Michelle is dangerous in spots. She’s very savvy and sets up little traps and things like that but I’ve really been tightening up my game. I was already really well rounded but I’m really tightening up the loose ends. There’s no part in this fight where I feel uncomfortable at all.”

With that being said, Namajunas is looking to create a ‘highlight’ against Waterson on her way to a title shot:

“This is a perfect opportunity to get a highlight,” Namajunas said about her fight with Waterson. “That’s the plan.”

“The vision that I have is to get a title shot this year,” Namajunas said. “Whether that be one fight in between or that be straight into a title shot, it doesn’t matter.”

Who do you expect to come out on top when these two 115-pound contenders meet this weekend?

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