Rose Namajunas had the opportunity to win the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight title at the end of season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” She made her way to that title fight with three submission victories during that season of the reality show. However, Namajunas fell short in her bid to win UFC gold. Instead, the title went to Carla Esparza after she submitted Namajunas in the third round of that December 2014 matchup.
Namajunas bounced back from that loss with a 4-1 run. She earned her second shot at the belt with a second-round submission win over Michelle Waterson in April 2017. By the time Namajunas stepped back into the octagon to fight for the title again, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who had unseated Esparza in March 2015, owned the title. Jedrzejczyk’s November 2017 matchup against Namajunas was her sixth attempted defense of the belt. It would be her last.
When the two stepped into the octagon at UFC 217, Jedrzejczyk, who was unbeaten at 14-0, was a -600 favorite. Meanwhile, Namajunas, who sported a record of 7-3 was a +400 underdog.
During the lead up to the fight, Jedrzejczyk did her best to psych her opponent out, but Namajunas never bought into Jedrzejczyk’s head games. That was evident when the two faced off for instructions from referee John McCarthy. Jedrzejczyk got right in her opponent’s face and raised her fist to Namajunas’ chin. In response, Namajunas stared through Jedrzejczyk and kept her hands at her sides.
The thought heading into the bout was that Jedrzejczyk would have the decided striking advantage. She never got the chance to show that striking. Namajunas dropped Jedrzejczyk with two minutes ticked off the clock, but she was unable to capitalize on that knockdown. A minute later Namajunas landed a huge left that put Jedrzejczyk to the mat for the second time in the fight. Ground strikes brought the battle to an end at the 3:03 mark of the first round. It was a huge upset that brought the crowd at Madison Square Garden to its feet.
Namajunas defeated Jedrzejczyk for a second time at UFC 223. She scored a unanimous decision in that rematch.
On Saturday, Namajunas puts her title on the line against Jessica Andrade in the main event of UFC 237.
UFC 237 takes place on Saturday at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following preliminary fights on ESPN and ESPN+.
Before that fight takes place, watch Namajunas stunning knockout win over Jedrzejczyk right here.
