Rose Namajunas is pleased to see her former rival get recognized.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk(16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was announced for the 2024 UFC Hall of Fame class. The former UFC strawweight champion, who defended her title a division record five times, will join the modern era wing.
Namajunas (12-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was the one to dethrone Jedrzejczyk, scoring a surprise first-round TKO victory in their title fight at UFC 217. She won their immediate rematch by unanimous decision to retain her belt at UFC 223.
Despite their heated rivalry, Namajunas showed nothing but respect towards Jedrzejczyk when asked by MMA Junkie about her UFC Hall of Fame recognition.
“I better get in there with her,” Namajunas laughed. “That’s super cool, I’m very happy for her. Obviously, I looked up to her. As much as we had our rivalry and things like that, I wish all the best to her. I hope that she’s happy, that she’s happy with her career because it was pretty awesome, and I’ll be happy to see it.”
After beating Jedrzejczyk a second time, Namajunas lost her title to Jessica Andrade. She was later able to recapture if after scoring back-to-back wins over current strawweight champion Zhang Weili. But after seeing her second reign come to an end at the hands of Carla Esparza, Namajunas sought new life at flyweight.
“Thug Rose” split her first two appearances at 125 pounds – a loss to Manon Fiorot, followed by a win over Amanda Ribas. She takes on streaking contender take on Maycee Barber (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN 59 main event July 13 at Ball Arena in Denver (ESPN, ESPN+).
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 59.
