There’s something special about fighting in New York for Rose
Namajunas.
“Thug” Rose improved to 3-0 in the Empire State with a
split-decision triumph over Weili Zhang
in the
UFC 268 co-main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday
night to successfully defend her strawweight title. Her success at
the famous venue began in November 2017, when she initially
captured the 115-pound belt with an upset win over Joanna
Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217, and she also bested Jedrzejczyk in a
five-round rematch at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in
April 2018.
“New York City inspires me,” Namajunas said at Saturday’s
post-fight press conference. “Like I said at weigh-ins, it’s the
toughest people in the world. It’s the coolest city.”
The rematch with Zhang took on a far different look than their
first meeting, when Namajunas vanquished her Chinese opponent with
a head kick 78 seconds into the opening stanza at UFC 261. This
time around, the bout was far more closely contested, but Namajunas
put a lasting stamp on her victory with a takedown approximately a
minute into Round 5. From there, she spent the majority of the
period in top position, landing ground-and-pound from above. There
were still a few tense moments when the final scorecards were
announced.
“I was pretty convinced going into the fifth round that I had won
it. It was pretty close in my mind for the rest of the fight, but
going into the fifth, because it was such a dominant round for me,
I felt as though I won it,” Namajunas said. “I could’ve kept going
even more. When they read her name off on the scorecards I was
like, ‘Wait, is it going to be her, then me, then her?’ Judges, you
never know what they’re going to see and it was a close fight. So I
was ready for whatever.”
Namajunas praised Zhang, who had numerous moments of success
throughout a competitive bout. There were more than a few observers
who scored the first three rounds for the former 115-pound
champion.
“I think Weili did improve,” Namajunas said. “Her distance
management was really good. I was expecting that. It wasn’t a
surprise in the improvements she made.”
While Namajunas’ 3-0 record in New York is noteworthy, her victory
against Zhang moved her to 4-0 in rematches — a mark that also
includes triumphs in return dates against Jedrzejczyk, Jessica
Andrade and Tecia
Torres. Next up could be another rematch, this time against
Carla
Esparza, who defeated Namajunas for the promotion’s inaugural
strawweight title at “The Ultimate Fighter 20” finale in December
2014. Esparza is currently on a five-bout winning streak that has
put her in a position as potentially the division’s top
contender.
“She was on my mind before going into this one,” Namajunas said of
Esparza. “That seems sort of like the logical step, but I’ve got to
see what the UFC is thinking I guess. But yeah, I would love to
fight Carla.”