How did Rose Namajunas lose the title?

Rose Namajunas is a MMA fighter originating from America. She is called Thug, and she participates in the Strawweight division for women in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States on June 29, 1992, Rose Namajunas decided to train herself to fight to protect herself from the violence in her neighborhood. Her arrival in the UFC happened at The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale on December 12, 2014. She faced Carla Esparza for an opportunity to be the first UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion but lost by submission in Round 3. Nevertheless, she has proved her worth since then and has already been a former 2-times UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion. Furthermore, she has won Fight of the Night thrice and Performance of the Night thrice in UFC. Before UFC, She competed at Invicta Fighting Championships (Invicta FC) and is a former 2-times winner of Submission of the Night.

Thug presently fought in 18 fights. She won 12 fights (2 by knockout, 5 by submission, and 5 by decision) and lost 6 fights (1 by knockout, 1 by submission, and 4 by decision).

Rose Namajunas Title Loss

Rose Namajunas won the UFC Women’s Strawweight title for a second time by beating Zhang Weili at UFC 261: Usman vs Masvidal 2 on August 24, 2021, in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. She had to defend her title for the second time against one of her long-time rivals, Carla Esparza, at UFC 274: Oliveira vs Gaethje on May 7, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.

During the fight, Cookie Monster beat Thug by split decision in 5 minutes of Round 5 to become the new UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion. A reason behind this, as per Michael Bisping, is that Namajunas had been tapped out by Esparaza once before and did not want to go through that again. Consequently, she succumbed to the mental tactics of her opponent and lost her title in the fight.

How many losses does Rose Namajunas have?

In UFC, Rose Namajunas has lost 5 times, including her most recent loss to Manon Fiorot. Here are three other instances where her opponents got the better of her inside the Octagon.

Rose Namajunas vs Carla Esparza

This was Thug’s debut in the UFC. These two locked horns at The Ultimate Warrior: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale on December 12, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. This was a fight for crowning the first UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion. Cookie Monster defeated Thug by submission through a rear naked choke in 1 minute 26 seconds of Round 3.

Rose Namajunas vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz

These two locked horns at UFC 201: Lawler vs Woodley on July 30, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Namajunas was beaten by Kowalkiewicz by split decision in 5 minutes of Round 3. Nevertheless, Thug got Fight of the Night for her efforts.

Rose Namajunas vs Jessica Andrade

This fight happened at UFC 237: Namajunas vs Andrade on May 11, 2019 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was Namajunas’ second title defense during her first reign as the UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion. Unfortunately, Thug was beaten by Bate Estaca by KO/TKO via a slam in 2 minutes 58 seconds of Round 2. Although Namajunas lost her title, she received Fight of the Night for her efforts.

*Last updated on March 24, 2024.