Former UFC strawweight champion “Thug” Rose Namajunas (11-6) is staying put in the flyweight division. The former champion has been booked in a headliner on March 23rd in The APEX in Las Vegas against fellow flyweight contender Amanda Ribas (12-4). The bout was first reported by MMA HOJE on X.
Starting with Ribas, this is a big fight for her and a very big spot. The Brazilian flyweight is coming off an impressive TKO win over Luana Pinheiro in a fight where she had to go through some adversity. However, she battled throughout the fight and ultimately scored a third round TKO.
Prior to that, she had suffered a TKO loss to Maycee Barber. Overall, she’s 3-3 in her last six fights on the heels of a five-fight winning streak. Ribas is a very solid contender in the flyweight division, but she’s struggled to beat the top fighters. A win over Namajunas would go a long ways in her aspirations to be a future UFC champion.
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Rose Namajunas knocked Zhang Weili out with a head kick back in 2021 to begin her second reign as strawweight champion. In a rematch, Thug Rose was able to win a split decision to retain her title. Following that, she was booked against Carla Esparza for her second title defense at UFC 274.
In arguably the worst title fight in the history of the promotion, Namajunas lost an underwhelming split decision. After losing, Namajunas considered hanging up her gloves for good. However, she decided to return and move up to the flyweight division.
At UFC Paris, she took on top contender Manon Fiorot and ultimately lost a decision. After taking some time to decide what’s next, she’s staying at flyweight and now she gets a fight with the very tough Amanda Ribas.