Rose Namajunas doesn’t want to surpass Manon Fiorotto for the flyweight title.
Namajunas moved up to flyweight after losing the strawweight title to Carla Esparza in 2022 by split decision. “Thug” lost a hard-fought unanimous decision to Fioroto in his flyweight debut the following year. Since then, Namajunas has earned back-to-back decision wins over Amanda Rivas and Tracy Cortez and gained prominence in the title conversation.
Namajunas is scheduled to take on top contender Erin Blanchfield in the co-main event of UFC Edmonton at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. If she wins, Namajunas will likely become a strong contender for the next gold medal against Valentina Shevchenko at 125 pounds. Although Shevchenko is Namajunas’ training partner, the “thug” probably wouldn’t mind getting paid for what he does during training anyway.
“It’s a dream matchup for me,” Namajunas told ESPN. “Obviously I’m a big fan
[Shevchenko]. As a fighter, I think she’s the best female fighter, and just in general… When I first started, I had a goal of being a two-division champion. And now that we’re here, that’s kind of my ultimate goal…I really respect her and have a lot of respect for her. That would be a little strange. But we also train together. So at least we’ll be like, we’re getting paid for what we’re doing. ”
However, Fiorotto is currently undefeated in seven fights in the UFC, including wins over both Namajunas and Blanchfield. Aside from his impressive finish against Blanchfield, Namajunas isn’t looking to leapfrog Fiorotto for another flyweight title shot.
“After Manon, I think.” [Fiorot]Yes,” Namajunas said. “And I think
[if] In a spectacular way, of course. I saw a lot of headlines about me saying I want to skip. [Fiorot]…I didn’t say that. I think she deserves the next award, and I definitely want to win the next one. ”
