Rose Namajunas admits she "f****d up" after losing her strawweight belt in a fight described by fans as the "most boring ever" at UFC 274 last weekend.
Namajunas was outpointed by rival Carla Esparza in a fight that saw the pair land just 67 strikes over 25-minutes. Esparza's wrestling was the deciding factor in her title win but fans were quick to criticise the lack of action from both fighters after the final bell.
Releasing a statement about her lacklustre performance following the event, Namajunas wrote: "Sorry to everyone. I f****d up. Definitely feel like a s***** human being but this will make me better. Hats off to Carla and thanks to everyone who’s been there for me."
UFC champion Israel Adesanya fell asleep watching the fight whilst Dana White was pictured watching Canelo Alvarez's fight with Dmitry Bivol during the subpar title clash. Esparza thinks Namajunas lack of aggression over the five rounds was because she was worried about being taken down.
What did you make of Rose Namajunas' loss to Carla Esparza? Let us know in the comments section below
“I definitely feel that she lost the fight to herself,” Esparza said on The MMA Hour. “I think she went in there, and she fought, I don’t want to say with fear, but she was worried about the takedown and very focused on that and didn’t fight her game. [She] didn’t let off as much as she could have. I definitely feel it was a lot of a mental thing.
“She’s beat the best of the best. She’s fought high-level opponents, but she hasn’t fought a lot of wrestlers to get where she is. She hasn’t fought a lot of people like me, and I’ve fought a lot of people like her. I feel I was more comfortable fighting someone with her style, and she wasn’t as comfortable fighting someone my style.”
The win starts Esparza's second reign as strawweight champion, first winning the belt when she beat Namajunas for the first time in 2014. Esparza said she was in disbelief during the fight and empathises with Namajunas for feeling "s******".
“When I was in the fight, I was like, ‘Is this really happening?’” Esparza said. “Each round I was almost in a lot of disbelief. As far as after the fight, to hear how bummed she was, I’ve been there. You can’t get to this level in the sport and not felt those tough losses and gotten crap from fans. I definitely feel her pain, especially having been in there."
