“Didn’t think she was on my level,” Rose Namajunas on what went wrong in the first fight with Carla Esparza
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Rose Namajunas- Carla Esparza
UFC women’s strawweight champion and future legend of MMA Rose Namajunas is at the peak of her professional career and safe to say she has done it all in her division, but avenging a loss is something that would intrigue any fighter on this planet. For Namajunas, her first-ever loss in the UFC octagon came at the hands of the inaugural strawweight queen, Carla Esparza, that too for the inaugural strawweight championship seven years ago.
While Esparza dominated the first fight to win over Namajunas via third-round submission at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale, Namamjunas has come far from that loss in terms of her evolution as a fighter, enough to become the first-ever 2-time women’s strawweight champion and wins over the likes of Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Zhang Weili, Jessica Andrade and many more. Namajunas is now looking ahead to a rematch against Esparza, who’s no less evolved than Namamjunas when it comes to her growth.
Rose Namajunas underestimated Carla Esparza since she was compared to Ronda Rousey prior to the first fight
On the episode of UFC’s special Countdown for this weekend’s UFC 274, where Namajunas and Esparza will fight each other, the former talks about what went wrong in the first fight against Esparza, particularly on the mental note of the contest. By the way, UFC 274 is headlined by UFC Lightweight champion Charles Oliveira making his second title defence against Namajunas’ teammate Justin Gaethje.
“I didn’t really care about Carla [Esparza]. I didn’t think she was on my level. Being called the next Ronda Rousey, you don’t really think anybody’s on your level, you know?… [During the first fight] I was just saying ‘It don’t get any better,” said Rose while she is seen watching the fight along with her fiancee and former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry.
What do you make of Namajunas‘ comments on her pre-fight mentality ahead of fighting Esparza in the first fight 7 years ago back then? Who do you think has evolved more as a fighter? Who do you think wins the rematch? While Namajunas can possess some surprising offence on her feet, it’s Esparza’s wrestling that the current champion needs to be cautious of as the first strawweight champion can takedown any woman in her division so far.
Also Read: “Used to feel he was breakable”- Trevor Wittman provides his honest assessment of Charles Oliveira
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Abhai Singh Tanwar
(1386 Articles Published)