Rose Namajunas properly integrated herself into the women’s flyweight division in March when she registered her first victory in the weight class against Amanda Ribas at UFC on ESPN 53.
Namajunas (12-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC), who returns to action Saturday in the UFC on ESPN 59 headliner vs. Tracy Cortez (11-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) at Ball Arena in Denver (ESPN, ESPN+), is a former strawweight champion who chased a fresh start in a new division. She lost her debut to Manon Fiorot in September, but then bounced back against Ribas by unanimous decision in a hard-fought contest.
“Thug Rose” was able to effectively navigate the striking and grappling exchanges with Ribas over the course of five rounds to get her hand raised, and now she will look to get a similar result against Cortez and take a step closer to adding the women’s flyweight belt to her mantel alongside strawweight gold.
Before Namajunas takes on Cortez this weekend, relive her performance against Ribas with the full fight video from UFC on ESPN 53 above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 59.
