Rose Namajunas

The two-time strawweight champion

Rose Namajunas held the UFC women's strawweight title across two reigns — November 2017 to April 2018 and April 2021 to May 2022. She defeated Joanna Jędrzejczyk for the title at UFC 217 (KO in round 1 — one of the most decisive upsets in women's MMA history), then dropped the title to Jessica Andrade at UFC 237 (slam KO from clinch). She regained the title at UFC 261 (KO of Zhang Weili via head kick in 78 seconds of round 1) and defended once (Zhang rematch at UFC 268) before losing to Carla Esparza at UFC 274 (UFC 274, May 2022, split decision).

Her record stands at 13-6 after moving up to flyweight in 2023 and losing both bouts in the new weight class.

The Pat Barry coaching

Namajunas's striking is the cleanest karate-distance template in women's MMA. The technical foundation was developed by her late coach Pat Barry — the former K-1 kickboxer turned MMA coach who was her primary striking influence from her early career until his sudden passing in 2024.

The technical signature:

• Rear-straight counter: thrown off the opponent's commitment to a combination. The Joanna Jędrzejczyk KO at UFC 217 was a counter rear straight; the Zhang Weili head kick at UFC 261 was a setup off a similar pattern.
• Karate-distance footwork: lateral movement and angle-step entries.
• Lead-leg kicks: side kicks and front kicks for distance control.
• High-kick attack: the Zhang Weili finish at UFC 261 was a snap right high kick.
• Defensive head movement: the most technical slip-and-counter in women's strawweight history.

The Joanna Jędrzejczyk title win

The November 2017 UFC 217 bout against Joanna Jędrzejczyk was the most decisive upset in women's MMA history. Joanna was the reigning strawweight champion with five consecutive title defenses; Namajunas was the underdog. Namajunas KO'd Joanna with a counter rear straight in round 1 — the bout ended at 3:03 of round 1 and produced one of the iconic moments of women's MMA broadcasting.

The rematch at UFC 223 in April 2018 went the same way — Namajunas won by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47).

The Jessica Andrade slam loss

The May 2019 UFC 237 bout against Jessica Andrade ended Namajunas's first title reign. Andrade caught Namajunas with a slam takedown from clinch range — the impact KO'd Namajunas at 2:58 of round 2. The slam-KO is one of the most replayed finishes in women's MMA broadcasting and demonstrated the limits of Namajunas's clinch-and-takedown defense.

The Zhang Weili wars

The two Zhang Weili bouts were detailed in Zhang's profile. UFC 261 was Namajunas's title-recapture moment (78-second head-kick KO); UFC 268 was the controversial split decision Namajunas won.

The Carla Esparza loss and the flyweight move

The May 2022 UFC 274 bout against Carla Esparza was Namajunas's title-losing bout — a split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47 Esparza) in a low-output five-round bout that the MMA community broadly viewed as one of the worst championship-level pace performances in modern women's MMA. The result ended Namajunas's championship era.

The 2023-2024 move to flyweight produced losses to Manon Fiorot (UFC Fight Night 224, September 2023, decision) and Tracy Cortez (UFC 297, January 2024). Namajunas has not won at flyweight as of mid-2025.

The Lithuanian-American cultural figure

Namajunas's cultural impact is unique in modern UFC marketing. The Lithuanian heritage (she has been vocal about supporting Lithuania during the Russia-Ukraine war, prompting some pre-fight commentary), the "Thug Rose" nickname adopted from her early-career sparring partner Pat Barry, and the personal openness about her early-life trauma have produced a public persona that's distinctive in modern combat sports.

The relationship with Pat Barry (her boyfriend and coach until his 2024 death) was the most public coach-fighter partnership in UFC history. His passing affected her competitive return narrative.

The legacy

Namajunas's case for the women's strawweight historical canon is the two-title-reign structure, the decisive KO of Joanna Jędrzejczyk, and the head-kick KO of Zhang Weili. The post-2022 decline at flyweight is real, but the body of work at strawweight is the strongest case for the post-Joanna era of the division.