Rose Namajunas says Joanna Jedrzejczyk provided blueprint to beat Weili Zhang
Rose Namajunas says Joanna Jedrzejczyk played a big role in her win over Weili Zhang.
In the co-main event of UFC 261, Namajunas was looking to reclaim her strawweight title against Zhang in a highly-anticipated fight. Many expected it to be a competitive fight, but it was far from it. Just over a minute in, Namajunas landed a beautiful head kick that dropped Zhang and she finished her off with ground strikes.
After the fight, Namajunas says watching Jedrzejczyk and Zhang’s fight at UFC 248 last March, she says she saw the champ left her hands down for the left high kick and it ended up working.
“I have been seeing the left high kick in my head just because I watched her fight with Joanna and she’s kind of open for that,” Namajunas said after UFC 261. “But that wasn’t the way that I saw the finish in the fight. I saw this fight going many different ways, some bad, some good. And I just had to have faith.”
“I just had to get my range and just had to get patient. She was feeling confident because she was touching me with the inside low kick and the jab. Her jab was a nice little jab she stuck in there,” Namajunas continued. “But I think it just helped me get my range and I just controlled my breathing and everything. I was prepared to go for all 25 minutes so I just stayed calm.”
With the win, Rose Namajunas became the first woman in UFC history to reclaim the title after losing it. It was a great performance for “Thug Rose” who proved when she is at her best, she can beat anyone. Who and when she will fight next is uncertain, but for now, Namajunas is celebrating the win and becoming the strawweight champ again.
