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This weekend sees UFC 274 go down from Phoenix, Arizona, and in the event’s co-headline bout, Rose Namajunas will defend her UFC women's strawweight title against top contender Carla Esparza.
Rose Namajunas has already achieved plenty in her UFC career, but would a win over Carla Esparza this weekend make her the greatest strawweight in the promotion’s history?
Despite the existence of a couple of other great fighters in the division since it was started in 2014, it’s probably safe to say that ‘Thug Rose’ will stand above them all if she beats Esparza this weekend.
Here are five reasons why a win over Carla Esparza would make Rose Namajunas the UFC’s strawweight GOAT.
#5. Rose Namajunas is the only fighter to hold the UFC strawweight title on two occasions
Even if Rose Namajunas were to lose to Carla Esparza this weekend, one thing that won’t change for her, and stands as evidence that she’s indeed the UFC’s 115-pound GOAT, is the fact that she’s the only fighter to hold the strawweight title on two occasions.
‘Thug Rose’ first claimed gold back in 2017 when she surprised everyone by knocking out longtime champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the first round. When she then defeated the Polish fighter in a rematch, it was expected that she’d hold onto the title for a long time.
However, Namajunas then fell in what was, it must be said, a somewhat fluke way against Jessica Andrade, losing her title in the process. Essentially, ‘Thug Rose’ was winning the bout easily until Andrade slammed her, spiking her onto her head and knocking her out.
Namajunas didn’t need much time to get back to the top, though. After taking a year off, she returned to defeat Andrade in a rematch before unseating then-champion Weili Zhang to reclaim the gold.
Given that no other fighter has been able to do that – which, to be fair, isn’t that surprising given that the division is not a decade old yet – it’s probably fair to say that ‘Thug Rose’ is the most decorated strawweight in UFC history. A win over Esparza would only push that idea further.
Simply put, it’d be impossible not to consider her the 115-pound GOAT.
#4. A win over Carla Esparza would mean Rose Namajunas has avenged practically all of her losses
Very few fighters in UFC history, even all-time greats like B.J. Penn and Randy Couture, were able to avenge all of their career losses before stepping away from the game. The fact that former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre was able to do so is a major reason why he’s considered the UFC’s GOAT, period.
Incredibly, though, if Rose Namajunas can defeat Carla Esparza this weekend, then she’ll have practically done just that already, with only one other unavenged defeat remaining on her record.
When ‘Thug Rose’ joined the UFC in 2014, she had one career loss to her name – against Tecia Torres – and quickly suffered another at the hands of Esparza in their inaugural title bout.
It didn’t take long for Namajunas to avenge her defeat to Torres, though, as she outpointed ‘The Tiny Tornado’ in her fourth trip to the octagon in April 2016.
Since then, only two other women have beaten ‘Thug Rose’, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Jessica Andrade. ‘Thug Rose’ has already defeated Andrade in a rematch and while she’s unlikely to fight Kowalkiewicz again anytime soon due to the Polish fighter’s slide down the rankings, that loss came via a semi-controversial decision anyway.
Therefore, if Namajunas can defeat ‘Cookie Monster’ this weekend, then she’ll have avenged three of her four losses, defeating all of the women who were able to finish her off.
Even if she never gets a chance to avenge her loss to Kowalkiewicz, this would be enough for her to be considered the UFC’s strawweight GOAT.
#3. Rose Namajunas has wins over three former champions, and Esparza would be the fourth
An excellent method of considering how great a UFC fighter is or was can be to look at how many champions they defeated during their career with the promotion. Jon Jones, for instance, holds victories over seven former or current UFC champions, making him a clear all-time great.
Things are a little trickier in the strawweight division, of course, because the weight class was only introduced into the UFC in late 2014 following the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Since then, the division has seen a total of six different title reigns, with five different women holding the title. Somehow, though, Rose Namajunas has already beaten three of those titleholders, and a win over Carla Esparza this weekend would give her a win over a fourth.
Incredibly, too, largely due to the UFC’s love of booking rematches, ‘Thug Rose’ has beaten two of those titleholders, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang, on two occasions, clearly marking her out as the best strawweight champion to date.
Given that ‘Thug Rose’ is herself the fifth titleholder, it’s hard not to consider her the GOAT in the weight class. After all, who else can compete with her list of wins?
#2. Rose Namajunas could theoretically be at the top of the division for a while yet
Given that she arrived in the UFC alongside the other fifteen cast members from the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter, fans could be forgiven for seeing Rose Namajunas as an aging veteran at this point.
After all, only a handful of Namajunas’ fellow cast members remain part of the UFC’s roster, with the likes of Angela Hill (37 years old), Felice Herrig (37 years old) and Tecia Torres (32 years old) now largely seen to be in the midst of the final chapters of their careers.
In fact, even Carla Esparza, who, along with ‘Thug Rose’ has been the most successful cast member, is on the wrong side of 30, as she’s set to turn 35 this October.
Namajunas, on the other hand, was the youngest member of the TUF cast back in 2014 and is yet to reach her 30th birthday. Essentially, she’s probably only just reaching her prime years right now in terms of her athletic ability.
That means that, barring any catastrophic injuries, she should be around at the top of the division for a long time yet, giving her more opportunities to really carve out an even longer-lasting legacy and cementing her as the UFC’s undisputed strawweight GOAT.
#1. Rose Namajunas has beaten trickier opponents than Joanna Jedrzejczyk
One fighter who could argue that she, and not Rose Namajunas, is the UFC’s strawweight GOAT is Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The Polish striker does have two losses to ‘Thug Rose’ on her record, as she was unseated for the strawweight title by her in 2017, but she also has something Namajunas can’t boast.
Thus far, both of Namajunas’ title reigns have seen her make just one successful defense. If she defeats Carla Esparza this weekend, she’ll have two in her current reign and three overall.
In contrast, Jedrzejczyk, who held the title from March 2015 to November 2017, was able to reel off five straight defenses before finally losing to Namajunas.
However, while five defenses sounds great on paper, there’s probably an argument that only two of those defenses really hold up as strong victories: the wins over Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Andrade, who are amongst the best strawweights to ever step into the octagon.
In terms of the others, though, Jessica Penne wasn’t really the top contender at the time and only received a title shot so that the UFC could put together a late-notice headliner, Valerie Letourneau had just two wins to her name at 115 pounds, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz earned her shot off the back of a series of tight decision wins, one of which – over Namajunas – was somewhat questionable.
On the other hand, while they didn’t come in title bouts, Namajunas holds wins over Andrade, Michelle Waterson, Angela Hill and Tecia Torres, all of whom would be considered tougher opponents than Penne or Letourneau.
Essentially, ‘Thug Rose’ has beaten tougher opponents than Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and should be considered above her in terms of deciding the UFC’s strawweight GOAT.
