The Pro Take: Rose Namajunas is the Strawweight Best with a First Round Finish at UFC 261

By
Justin Gibbons
-
UFC 261 - Rose Namajunas
Rose Namajunas, UFC 261 ceremonial weigh-in Credit: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press

Weili Zhang vs. Rose Namajunas is one of those dream match ups that don’t come around that often. But of late, the stars have aligned on big PPV cards like UFC 261.

The fight between Zhang and Namajunas featured two fighters who seemed to be on a collision course. The fight being attached to a mammoth card with fans back in the building seemed fitting; it was a bout that deserved to go down in front of a sold-out arena.

Rose Namajunas had earned the opportunity to fight for UFC gold that she saw slip away from her in Brazil at UFC 237. Like any fighter with a heart of a champion, she avenged that loss to Jéssica Andrade – but unfortunately for Rose, Andrade had lost the title to Weili Zhang.

Weili Zhang had proven that she is willing to go to war to defend her title, as her fight with Joanna Jędrzejczyk showed — a fight that could easily go down as one of the greatest fights in history. Weili Zhang wanted to be remembered as one of the greatest to ever come out of China, and to defend against Rose Namajunas would show that she surely deserved that legacy.

Only one woman was going to get the outcome she wanted. And just like that, at UFC 261, we had a new strawweight champion. With a devastating high kick, Rose Namajunas captured UFC gold in the very first round.

PROS GIVE THEIR TAKE

The pros react to the second title fight that was on the line of the night at UFC 261.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR