Rose Namajunas is returning to MMA, but she’s doing so by leaving her longtime home at 115 pounds.
After over a year away from fighting, the former UFC women’s strawweight champion is moving up a weight class to compete against top women’s flyweight contender Manon Fiorot on Sept. 2 at UFC on ESPN 53 in Paris. Many are curious to see how Namajunas fares in a heavier division.
The person perhaps most qualified to speculate Namajunas debut at women’s flyweight is former rival Jessica Andrade. The Brazilian knows Namajunas very well, having fought her twice – winning by KO and losing a decision. She’s also a former strawweight champion and has fought many times at 125 pounds.
“I’m very happy that Rose is returning to fighting because for a while she didn’t want to fight, and she would speak to people saying that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue,” Andrade told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “However, I knew that if she would come back, she wanted to fight at 125 pounds. Someone had told me that she was looking to return, but didn’t want 115 pounds.
“I thought that was good. I think this division will be good for her. She’s very tall and has a long reach. I think it’s a good division for her, and I’m excited for her fights. I want her to win. She’s very strong, very fast, very technical. She also has great movement inside the octagon, and she also has good jiu-jitsu. I think in this weight class she’ll do well.”
Andrade (24-11 MMA, 15-9 UFC) returns to the cage this Saturday in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 50, which takes place Saturday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. She takes on Tatiana Suarez (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a key women’s strawweight bout.
The 31-year-old, who’s been going back and forth between strawweight and flyweight, told MMA Junkie that she intends to commit to 115 pounds for now, in an effort to reclaim her title. A move back to flyweight is only closed for the immediate future.
Being tied up with Namajunas, Andrade expects for the two to cross paths a third time – maybe at flyweight.
“I think so, I think so, and I think it can be at 125 pounds,” Andrade said regarding a potential trilogy. “If she doesn’t want to return to 115, 125 is good for me too. So I think that’s a very interesting fight between us too.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 50.
