Tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC Edmonton, we are going to see a title eliminator in the women’s flyweight division. Top contender Erin Blanchfield (12-2) will look to get back on track as she takes on former strawweight champion “Thug” Rose Namajunas (13-6).
Starting with “Thug” Rose, the former strawweight champion will be looking for her third straight win in the flyweight division. Namajunas made her flyweight debut in September 2023 and lost a decision to Manon Fiorot. Since then, she’s bounced back with impressive wins over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez.
Tomorrow night, she faces one of the toughest tests in the division. Erin Blanchfield made her UFC debut back in 2021 and started out 6-0 inside the octagon. That stretch led her to a title eliminator back in March where she, like Namajunas, lost to Manon Fiorot. Now, she’ll look to defeat a former champion in “Thug” Rose while punching her ticket to a title shot.
UFC Edmonton Prediction
I really think that this fight is going to come down to the wrestling of Blanchfield. Throughout her winning streak to start her UFC career, Blanchfield dominated opponents with her grappling. However, in her win over Taila Santos, we saw it didn’t look nearly as dominant.
Against Manon Fiorot, she couldn’t find much success at all and it led her to losing a clear decision. Perhaps things have gone sideways once she started dealing with top level competition. If Namajunas is able to keep the fight standing tomorrow night, she is by far the favorite.
Namajunas’ biggest problem is being gun shy. She is the more well-rounded mixed martial artist and if she’s able to keep the fight on the feet and she’s not too tentative, I love her in this matchup. Blanchfield’s path to victory at UFC Edmonton is taking Namajunas down and holding here there. While she’s the bigger fighter, I like Namajunas over the course of five rounds and I’ll go with the former champion here.
Prediction: Rose Namajunas by Decision