One of the most accomplished female fighters in UFC history will add another line to her resume Wednesday.
“Thug Rose: Mixed Martial Artist,” a documentary on the life and career of two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, will debut Wednesday on UFC Fight Pass. The film, directed by award-winning documentary director and producer Marius Markevicius, premiered at the Austin Film Festival in Texas in late October.
“UFC Fight Pass prides itself on being more than a live event platform,” Crowley Sullivan, UFC Fight Pass’ vice [resident and general manager, said in a news release. “In addition to being able to watch every fight of UFC star Rose Namajunas’ career, subscribers can learn more about Rose and her incredible journey by watching ‘Thug Rose: Mixed Martial Artist.'”
The 90-minute documentary, according to the release, “chronicles the inspiring journey of professional fighter and two-time UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, who, after experiencing an abusive childhood, became an advocate for mental wellness, an avid environmentalist, and a concert-level pianist – all while gaining international acclaim as one of the fiercest MMA competitors in the world.”
Namajunas (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) won the UFC women’s strawweight title twice. She lost the belt to Carla Esparza at UFC 274 in May.
Namajunas told MMA Junkie earlier this month that the documentary was in the works for a long time.
“Marius and I connected really well when I first won the belt (from Joanna Jedrzejczyk) back in 2017,” Namajunas told MMA Junkie. “It was kind of a leap of faith in his part in investing the time and interviewing me, and we kind of persisted over the past few years to get the financing and putting the pieces together.”
Namajunas and Markevicius are of Lithuanian descent and quickly bonded while starting work on the project.
“She’s talked about a lot in her career, but the goal was to go one level deeper and let Rose tell her story in one unified and cohesive place and have it in her own words instead of all over the place by a whole bunch of other people. That was kind of a mission,” Markevicius said. “… Hopefully a takeaway from the film is you realize, win or lose, having the belt or not having the belt is actually a small thing in Rose’s journey. We talked a lot about what talking about those things can do for other people in terms of sending a positive message and the social impact this film could have in terms of helping people who have been through abuse, who have been through different struggles. I think Rose’s story is very inspirational, so we hope it does help people out there.”
