The debut of Rose Namajunas in the UFC women’s flyweight division arrived on Saturday at UFC Paris, with her fight against Manon Fiorot not going according to plan for the former strawweight champ.
Namajunas and Fiorot went back-and-forth early in the fight, with the French flyweight mixing in kicks, and Namajunas circling, firing her own kicks low, all the while looking to counter. Late in the round, Namajunas, clearly the smaller fighter, shot for a takedown to no avail. Fiorot finished the round with a side kick, while Namajunas headed back to her corner showing a bit of damage under one eye. Fiorot appeared to have the advantage.
In the second, it was Fiorot clinching up about a minute in, putting her weight on “Thug” Rose. Namajunas fought hands, and Fiorot opted to rip a combo, landing a knee at the end of it that appeared to bother the American. Back at range, Fiorot went back to her kicking attack, which Rose answered with a spinning kick of her own that hit air. Later, she’d close the distance for her best takedown attempt of the round, bullying Fiorot to the fence— but she could not get the fight to the ground. A nasty cut, however, was opened up on Fiorot after an accidental head butt with just over a minute left in the round. It was bloody, really bloody, but to the side of the head, so not impeding her vision.
On the restart, Namajunas looked for an entry point, but couldn’t find one. Fiorot, bloodied or not, showed some smart boxing to finish the frame.
Round three had Fiorot no doubt ahead in the fight, having fended off takedowns and won out in the stand-up department. An early Namajunas takedown was fought off by Fiorot, who continued to pick apart the ex-strawweight champ. Namajunas began pressing forward, looking to apply pressure, but walked into a couple of Fiorot punches for her efforts. Namajunas was also shying away from firing her right hand, for reasons unknown. Ahead of the final minute, the pair had a heated change, but Namajunas was running out of time and the crowd knew it. A slip by Fiorot in the dying seconds wasn’t enough for Namajunas to capitalize on, and they headed to the scorecards to determine a winner.
Unanimous for @ManonFiorot_MMA! 👏
She takes your #UFCParis co-main over Rose Namajunas pic.twitter.com/8UQ0GQfZbw
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2023
Official Result: Manon Fiorot def. Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
