Since her last fight at UFC 274 in May 2022, Rose Namajunas has been on an emotional journey.
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Since her last fight at UFC 274 in May 2022, Rose Namajunas has been on an emotional journey. The strawweight title match ended with a split decision loss to Carla Esparza. In the meantime, MMA has taken a back seat for Namajunas, who has been busy with other endeavors, including being featured in a documentary and participating in a grappling match.
Ahead of her upcoming fight against Manon Fiorot at UFC Paris on September 2, 2023, 31-year-old Rose Namajunas is making significant changes. In this bout, she will be making her Flyweight debut, aiming to establish herself as a top contender by facing the No. 2-ranked Fiorot. However, Namajunas revealed that she had seriously considered not returning to fighting at all before making this decision.
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Rose Namajunas openly discussed her thoughts about retirement on The MMA Hour, sharing that she had considered being done with fighting for a substantial period. She described feeling less aggressive and not wanting to harm anyone after her last fight. These feelings led her to believe that she was done with the sport. However, Namajunas acknowledged that there were other factors contributing to her contemplation of retirement.
“Yeah, I definitely thought I was done for a good amount of time,” Namajunas said on The MMA Hour. “There were a number of things, but the way I felt going into the locker room. I just didn’t feel aggressive and I don’t really want to hurt anybody. I was just like, ‘Oh, I guess I’m done.’ There was definitely a bunch of other factors that went into it.
“I think it was a spiritual thing that I just kind of questioned if I wanted to keep going,” she continued. “It wasn’t really part of a godly life. But then I came back around to like, no this is definitely what god is calling me to do. He kind of has special gifts for everybody, and some people are warriors and some people are preachers, you know. I’ve been gifted with the warrior spirit and something special. I know I don’t have a ton of time left, but I know he’s not finished with me in this chapter.”
In their UFC 268 title rematch held in November 2021, Namajunas secured a victory over Zhang Weili via a split decision. This win marked her most recent triumph in the octagon.
Apart from the shift in the divisional landscape, the Namajunas vs. Fiorot matchup will bring a change of pace as it marks only the second time in her 16-fight career (11-5) that Namajunas will compete outside of the U.S.
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