Rose Namajunas explains why Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk was not “fight of the year”

Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas does not believe that Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk should take home “fight of the year” honors.

Zhang (21-1 MMA) put her title on the line against former division queen Jedrzejczyk (16-4 MMA) in the co-headliner of March’s UFC 248 pay-per-view event. The result was one of the greatest fights in the history of not only women’s MMA, but mixed martial arts in general.

Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk proceeded to go to war for twenty-five straight minutes, leaving both ladies battered and bruised and the Polish star sporting a nasty hematoma on her forehead. In the end, Zhang was awarded a split decision victory from the judges in attendance.

Image Credit: @UFC on Instagram (photographer not listed)

Speaking with ESPN‘s Ariel Helwani, former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas shared her thoughts on Zhang vs. Jedrzejczyk being touted as “fight of the year”. While ‘Thug’ admits it was a “great fight”, she thinks calling the bout “fight of the year” is a bit of a stretch.

“It was a great fight and both of them are some savages for sure,” Namajunas said. “However, the only gripe that I have about it being like the best fight ever or whatever is that people always say that, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. I don’t think it is a good thing to have the ‘best fight ever’ based on how people look at the ‘best fights ever’. If you think about the best fights when people say that it’s always a lack of defense. People that are getting hit a lot, to me, that’s not the best fight ever.”

While Rose Namajunas won’t be giving her vote to Zhang vs. Jedrzejczyk for “fight of the year”, she would be happy to give the nod to Josh Emmett and Shane Burgos for their legendary scrap last month in Las Vegas.

“You know what was the greatest fight ever recently was Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos,” Namajunas suggested. “That was a beautiful display of like both two different styles. To me, that was the ‘fight of the year.’”

Rose Namajunas (8-4 MMA) is set to return to the Octagon on July 11 at UFC 251 for a rematch with Jessica Andrade. The Brazilian had defeated ‘Thug’ by way of a nasty slam in their first encounter at UFC 237.

Do you agree with Rose Namajunas that Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk should not be touted as “fight of the year” for 2020? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!

on July 1, 2020