Rose Namajunas won big on Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York at UFC 223 — check out what the pros had to say about her first title defense.
UFC 223 took place in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday night at the Barclays Center. Despite the card being ravaged by injury and insanity, it turned out to be a thrilling event in the cage. MMA fans were treated to a bloody battle between Joe Lauzon and Chris Gruetzemacher, a fantastic battle between top strawweights Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Felice Herrig, and a modern classic in Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak. And that was before either the main or co-main events went down!
Speaking to the co-main event, the battle between ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk turned into a war of attrition that dragged on for five long rounds. While champ Rose had the edge early, Joanna changed momentum thanks to a leg kick attack that bruised of the lead leg of the champ.
Yet ‘Thug’ Rose showed her win over Joanna last year was no fluke. She also showed tons of heart, fighting through the pain and coming back in the fifth and final round to score a late takedown. Ultimately, she won a unanimous decision to retain the UFC women’s strawweight championship.
Check out what the pros though of her performance — including Gina Carano!
Rd 1 – Rose 10-9
— Chase Sherman (@ChaseShermanUFC) April 8, 2018
OH! @RoseNamajunas tags Joanna at the end of round 1!! #UFC223 pic.twitter.com/mwxx599dPb
— UFC (@ufc) April 8, 2018
Rose is looking sharp #UFC223
— Matt Van Buren (@GutterMMA) April 8, 2018
.@rosenamajunas left hook seems to always find the target. @joannamma looks must sharper than the first fight. But Rose gets round 2 aswell. @ufc
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) April 8, 2018
Rd 1 – Rose 10-9
Rd 2 – Rose 10-9— Chase Sherman (@ChaseShermanUFC) April 8, 2018
The left hook of rose has found its home and JJ with some good leg kicks. 2-0 rose #ufc223
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) April 8, 2018
Rd 1 – Rose 10-9
Rd 2 – Rose 10-9
Rd 3 – Joanna 10-9— Chase Sherman (@ChaseShermanUFC) April 8, 2018
Commentary is biased right now I got Joanna winning 2-1 right now.
— James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) April 8, 2018
Rogan’s bigging up the legkicks but you can see they’re slapping, not a ton of weight in them. #UFC223
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) April 8, 2018
2-2 winner of the 5th wins fight
— Truck Gordon (@TruckMMA_UFC) April 8, 2018
Fight should be even 2-2. But close rds #ufc223
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) April 8, 2018
Rose with more significant strikes #ufc223
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) April 8, 2018
I love me some #thug !!
— Sam Alvey (@smilensam) April 8, 2018
Who doesn’t love @rosenamajunas ?!?? What a great performance by two of my favorite female fighters!! #ufc223
— Shane Burgos (@HurricaneShaneB) April 8, 2018
Great fight! https://t.co/NDB5fM2mvj
— sarah moras (@sarahcheesecake) April 8, 2018
I wish this was the main event. They deserved it #UFC223 #RoseJoanna
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) April 8, 2018
The girls won. It was a war. @ufc
— Alpha Cat Zingano (@CatZingano) April 8, 2018
Thug 🌹👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽@rosenamajunas Congrats! What a performance! #UFC223
— Tatiana Suarez (@TSPMMA115) April 8, 2018
These two.. throwing down.. had us all invested like a heavy weight fight. 🔥 All our hearts were in it. @rosenamajunas @joannamma This was my main event tonight! Congrats to both these fights and #ThugRose 🌹 #ftw pic.twitter.com/dNRRCY0hS6
— Gina Carano (@ginacarano) April 8, 2018
I love you Rose !!! #UFC223
— patrick cote (@patrick_cote) April 8, 2018
AND STILL!!!!! @rosenamajunas @ufc
— Paige VanZant (@PaigeVanzantUFC) April 8, 2018
Regardless of how the events went down this week, this PPV has absolutely delivered. Amazing fights, and we still have Khabib – Raging Al
— Chase Sherman (@ChaseShermanUFC) April 8, 2018
I had 48-47, Rose. https://t.co/94WtAWCYkP
— The Spartan (@EliasTheodorou) April 8, 2018
