Rose Namajunas acknowledges her rematch with Carla Esparza was boring to say the least.
Namajunas last competed in May 2022 at UFC 274 when she looked to defend her women's strawweight title against Esparza in a rematch. However, it turned out to be one of the most boring title fights in UFC history with both fighters being largely inactive over the course of 25 minutes.
In the end, Esparza somehow did enough to edge Namajunas out with the split decision victory, but not without a chorus of boos as fans, fighters and even commentary dished out plenty of criticism.
Fifteen months later, Namajunas — who earlier this month revealed she was thinking of retirement after the fight — admits it was a poor showing.
“No, that was definitely one of the most boring fights ever,” Namajunas said on UFC Paris media day (via MMA Fighting). “I don’t know, I guess being the fighter it feels a little different when somebody — because it’s not just a sport for me, it’s an art, so when somebody critiques your art you get a little emotional about it.
“Ultimately, that’s fair to say what they had to say because nothing really happened. I was kind of in my feelings about it because I felt like there’s always this unspoken thing of ‘the challenger’s got to take it in order to get it’ but whatever, it’s my fault.”
The performance was all the more surprising given that Namajunas was regarded as one of the more entertaining women's fighters thanks to her striking and memorable finishes.
Because of that, the criticism she received was especially hard to take.
“It did at first, but I kind of deserved it,” Namajunas explained. “I was a little bitter. I just had to kind of get out of my feelings a little bit and realize that I might have things and challenges that I deal with, but that’s not anybody else’s business.
“They’re just here to be inspired or to be entertained or to learn something and that’s my job as a martial artist is to go out there and do my job.”
“Thug” is now getting ready for her next chapter as she makes her flyweight debut against Manon Fiorot in the UFC Paris co-main event this weekend.
With Fiorot being a top contender, Namajunas could potentially earn a title shot with a win. But for now, she's only focused on Saturday.
“No expectations,” Namajunas added. “I just hope and pray that God uses me in a way that I can glorify Him and hopefully I put on a good performance and that I can inspire people and hopefully everything else just kind of takes care of itself. That would definitely be a dream come true, like I said, that was in my goals.
“But I’m not looking too far ahead, I’m just kind of in the moment.”
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