Rose Namajunas Cemented Her Reign As Champ With Another Win Over Joanna Jedrzejczyk At UFC 223

Rose Namajunas shocked the world at UFC 205 when she didn’t just beat reigning 115-pound kingpin Joanna Jedrzejczyk, she wrecked her in just over three minutes. But was it a fluke? Were weight cutting issues to blame, as Jedrzejczyk has claimed in interviews following the fight? Rose had a chance to prove she was the true women’s strawweight champ at UFC 223, agreeing to an immediate rematch with the fearsome ‘Joanna Champion.’

That rematch would be much more competitive than the first fight. It started out strong for Namajunas only to swing back Jedrzejczyk’s way in the third off a series of bruising leg kicks. But Rose kept attacking and managed to close Jedrzejczyk’s eye. From there she finished the fight strong, earning a decision win on the judges’ scorecards 49-46, 49-46, 49-46.

The first round saw both fighters feel each other out, with Joanna refusing to rush in and engage like she did in their original fight. But a few minutes into the fight and it became clear that Namajunas was getting the better of the exchanges between the two. In the second round, her combinations started landing more and more and Jedrzejczyk’s face started to bruise up from the onslaught.

As the third round progressed, Joanna started to hit her stride while Rose started to slow down under the weight of a string of leg kicks. That left her flat-footed, which allowed Jedrzejczyk to start picking her apart like so many of her past opponents. Round four was more of the same: Rose struggling to keep up her output while eating endless kicks to her lead leg. But over the round, Jedrzejczyk’s eye started swelling shut, and back in her corner, her coaches had to help her stretch her leg out.

Round five saw Rose Namajunas push back, swinging for the fences and tagging Joanna with some serious heat, staggering the Polish fighter. Jedrzejczyk’s kicks no longer had enough heat to deter Namajunas, who started moving again and avoiding her opponents’ attacks. With 20 seconds to go Namajunas landed a takedown, probably locking up the round in the judges’ eyes.

The win cements Rose Namajunas as the woman to beat at 115 pounds. As for Joanna Jedrzejczyk? We wouldn’t be surprised if she finally moves up to the new 125 pound division. After years of notoriously rough weight cuts, we’re excited to see what Joanna might accomplish.