Rose Namajunas improves to 1-1 at flyweight, defeats Amanda Ribas in UFC Vegas 89 main event
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, March 23, 2024, for UFC Vegas 89, going down live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the event was a women’s strawweight bout between no. 7 ranked Amanda Ribas (13-5) and former two-time UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (12-6).
Ribas came into the bout off a spinning wheel kick knockout over Luana Pinheiro back in November, following a TKO defeat to no. 4 ranked Maycee Barber last June.
Namajunas on the other hand, following her split decision defeat to Carla Esparza where she lost her title back in May of 2022, had since moved up to 125 lbs this past September, losing the bout to no. 3 ranked Manon Fiorot (UD).
Continue reading to see how our strawweight main event of the evening went down:
Official Result: Rose Namajunas def. Amanda Ribas via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
After a back and forth opening two minutes on the feet Ribas secures a takedown, Namajunas of which gets right back to her feet. The two get back to striking, before Ribas goes for a head throw. Though she secures it, she rolls through too far and ends up on bottom for the final 90 or so seconds of the round.
Namajunas’ boxing looked good through the early stages of round two. Ribas went for another head throw, nearly getting her back taken before she rolled for a kneebar. Namajunas escapes it and spends the remaining couple minutes of the second in top position.
Ribas secured a body lock trip takedown in the third, Namajunas of which immediately reversed the position as the two got back to their feet in a scramble. Namajunas was pressing her into the fence, where she was tripped back down to the mat. Ribas took her back in the final seconds of the round after reigning down some good elbows from half guard.
Each Namajunas and Ribas looked good on the feet through the opening half of the fourth round, each of them landing good strikes onto the other, before Namajunas secured a takedown midway through it and settled in Ribas’ guard, ending the round in top position.
Ribas opened up the fifth and final round with a heavy round kick to the body. The remainder of the round was spent on the feet, Namajunas landing some good punches upstairs, and Ribas landing good punches and kicks.
Following defeat in her flyweight debut, a fight she was injured in, Rose Namajunas picks up her first win at 125 lbs tonight at UFC Vegas 89.
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