UFC Edmonton, The Morning After: Thug Rose Wilts

11/03/2024 10:00 AM

Here's what you may have missed!

Rose Namajunas is one of the most spectacular fighters in the history of women's MMA.

What's so special about the two-time Strawweight queen is her ability to live up to the moment and exceed expectations. That was apparent even in her second pro fight, which she won via an absurd flying armbar. A few years later, a first-round knockout over feared "Boogeywoman" Joanna Jedrzejczyk confirmed that Namajunas was indeed a unique talent.

Fascinatingly, that's all just the start. Not only did Namajunas secure wildly unlikely first-round knockouts of Jedrzejczyk and later Zhang Weili, but she straight up out-dogged them in five-round rematches. In long, gritty fights, Namajunas was able to overpower the Polish fighter and outwrestle possibly the strongest woman at 115-pounds.

Those are stunning outcomes, and they were backed up by technical excellence. At her peak, Rose Namajunas reached a level of fluidity on the feet with her boxing that relatively few male fighters achieve. Her footwork, setups, and weight transfer between punches were outstanding, far beyond that of any of her Strawweight peers.

It's hard to reconcile just how f—king dangerous Namajunas was with her recent performances and results. At 32 years of age, "Thug Rose" should not be over-the-hill. Last night was her 20th professional fight. This is not a Tony Ferguson situation, yet it's obvious that she's been stagnating for some time, and the result is a 2-3 run across her last five fights.

The Carla Esparza rematch is a bizarre circumstance, one that's hard to analyze because Namajunas just didn't do anything. It was a staring match, not a demonstration of skills or development. We can safely chalk that one up to a bad night at the office, an anomaly that doesn't really have much to do with the overall trends at play.

Her four Flyweight performances are remarkably consistent, however. For one, Trevor Wittman — Namajunas' former head coach and the mind behind multiple UFC champions — has been decidedly absent in her corner for her entire Flyweight career. Taking over the head corner mantle (and seemingly her training as a whole) is Namajunas' husband, Pat Barry.

More importantly, Namajunas has now spent 90 minutes in the cage as a Flyweight without Wittman, and she looks consistently ... good? She's 2-2 in that span, defeating two ranked opponents and losing to her pair of Top Five opponents. She's not suddenly awful, but there can be no doubt that Namajunas is stagnating.

There's just no pop to Namajunas' game anymore. She still employs the same movement patterns, but they aren't as sharp. Her form and snap in the pocket is decidedly worse. Subsequently, she's landed a couple flash knockdowns but hasn't come anywhere near stopping her opponents. Erin Blanchfield just walked through 100 punches to the mouth without ever looking bothered, which just didn't seem possible for Namajunas foes previous to 2023.

Furthermore, Namajunas is a more prone to being outworked. Her bout last night vs. Blanchfield was very winnable — she easily took the first two rounds! Blanchfield wanted it more though, and you could visibly watch Namajunas wilt in the face of Blanchfield's pressure and determination.

She looked unprepared.

As the situation stands currently, Namajunas is a Top 10 Flyweight. On a long enough timeline, she might still eventually land a title shot, because she's a popular name in a thin division. Still, it all feels kind of dire.

Is there any hope for the brilliance that saw her capture the Strawweight titles in such violent fashion? I don't see that spark anymore. At this stage, it's nearly impossible to imagine Namajunas dethroning Valentina Shevchenko despite the fact that "Bullet" herself is looking more vulnerable with age. She's lost that fire, the fighting genius that separated her as a standout talent of her generation.

Can it be rekindled? Maybe this loss is what sends "Thug Rose" back to the drawing board or her old camp. Barring some sort of drastic change, Namajunas is going to settle into a gatekeeper role at 125-pounds when there's potential for so much more.

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