At UFC 217, Rose “Thug” Namajunas electrified the MMA world with one of the biggest upsets in history, defeating former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk to capture the women’s strawweight belt.It was one of the most surprising occurrences at UFC 217, and we’re sure to hear Namajunas’ name a lot more going forward.Here’s what you should know about the new women’s strawweight champ.
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The New Champ
Namajunas not only succeeded as an underdog against Jedrzejczyk—the Polish fighter had defended her title five times in the two years she held it—but also took down Jedrzejczyk with a TKO via punches, a first for Namajunas’ UFC career.
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Long Road to the Top
Namajunas is an MMA vet with quite a history. She was in Season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2014, then had some tough losses in the UFC before climbing to the top. She took down the likes of Michelle Waterson and, now, Jedrzejczyk to become the women’s strawweight champ.
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Poise Under Pressure
Jedrzejczyk is notorious for her intense staredowns and trash talk, and she put Namajunas under significant mental pressure in the buildup to UFC 217 and during fight week, telling her that the “bogeywoman” was coming to get her. (In hindsight, “bogeywoman” isn’t exactly the scariest word to lob in someone’s direction, but we’ll trust that Jedrzejczyk had a strategy in mind.)It was all for naught, though: Namajunas remained steely and cool in the face of Jedrzejczyk’s taunting. In the moments of extreme verbal confrontation, she took to reciting the Lord’s Prayer to stay cool, calm, and collected—an interesting strategy that clearly paid off on fight night. “[Jedrzejczyk] needs someone to fire back, and I wasn’t going to do that. I stuck with it. It took a lot of restraint on my end, it took a lot of control. It took a lot out of me, but I knew that’s what I had to do; that was the way to beat her, was to shut her mental game down,” she told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour.
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Changing Her Style
She cut her long, blonde hair before her fight with Paige van Zant—and then won. At the time, she shared her thoughts on the new ‘do on Instagram.”It’s a fight, not a beauty pageant,” Namajunas wrote on the black and white photo. “Sh*t’s in my way at practice…cut it off!” Check out the post below: Thank you @deetheebarber A post shared by Rose Namajunas (@rosenamajunas) on Nov 7, 2015 at 1:39pm PST
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Her Boyfriend Is Her Coach
“Thug’s” boyfriend, Pat “HD” Barry, is also her head coach. The former UFC heavyweight (8-7) apparently always knew Namajunas had the chops to become a champ.”Ever since the day we met, I specifically remember telling her that, ‘You are special and you have a talent,’” he told UFC.com. “‘And if this is really what you want to do, we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure it can happen because you have what it takes.’”
At UFC 217, Rose “Thug” Namajunas electrified the MMA world with one of the biggest upsets in history, defeating former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk to capture the women’s strawweight belt.
It was one of the most surprising occurrences at UFC 217, and we’re sure to hear Namajunas’ name a lot more going forward.
Here’s what you should know about the new women’s strawweight champ.
The New Champ
Namajunas not only succeeded as an underdog against Jedrzejczyk—the Polish fighter had defended her title five times in the two years she held it—but also took down Jedrzejczyk with a TKO via punches, a first for Namajunas’ UFC career.
Long Road to the Top
Namajunas is an MMA vet with quite a history. She was in Season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2014, then had some tough losses in the UFC before climbing to the top. She took down the likes of Michelle Waterson and, now, Jedrzejczyk to become the women’s strawweight champ.
Poise Under Pressure
Jedrzejczyk is notorious for her intense staredowns and trash talk, and she put Namajunas under significant mental pressure in the buildup to UFC 217 and during fight week, telling her that the “bogeywoman” was coming to get her. (In hindsight, “bogeywoman” isn’t exactly the scariest word to lob in someone’s direction, but we’ll trust that Jedrzejczyk had a strategy in mind.)
It was all for naught, though: Namajunas remained steely and cool in the face of Jedrzejczyk’s taunting. In the moments of extreme verbal confrontation, she took to reciting the Lord’s Prayer to stay cool, calm, and collected—an interesting strategy that clearly paid off on fight night. “[Jedrzejczyk] needs someone to fire back, and I wasn’t going to do that. I stuck with it. It took a lot of restraint on my end, it took a lot of control. It took a lot out of me, but I knew that’s what I had to do; that was the way to beat her, was to shut her mental game down,” she told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour.
Changing Her Style
She cut her long, blonde hair before her fight with Paige van Zant—and then won. At the time, she shared her thoughts on the new ‘do on Instagram.
“It’s a fight, not a beauty pageant,” Namajunas wrote on the black and white photo. “Sh*t’s in my way at practice…cut it off!” Check out the post below:
A post shared by Rose Namajunas (@rosenamajunas) on Nov 7, 2015 at 1:39pm PST
Her Boyfriend Is Her Coach
“Thug’s” boyfriend, Pat “HD” Barry, is also her head coach. The former UFC heavyweight (8-7) apparently always knew Namajunas had the chops to become a champ.
“Ever since the day we met, I specifically remember telling her that, ‘You are special and you have a talent,’” he told UFC.com. “‘And if this is really what you want to do, we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure it can happen because you have what it takes.’”
