VIDEO | Get Hyped for UFC 223 With ‘Thug Rose Champion’

The absolutely epic film, ‘Thug Rose Champion’ was created by MMA fighter Steven Parsons and chronicles the lead up to the first title bout between the then title challenger, Rose Namajunas and strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217, the fight itself and the rise of Rose as a champion. Their rematch takes place at UFC 223 on April 7.

It’s very rare that we ever get upsets like the one that Rose provided us with at UFC 217 and it was so large that it arguably rivals Holly Holm’s upset over Ronda Rousey as the greatest upset in a female MMA fight. Joanna had established herself as what many assumed to be an unstoppable force, much like Rousey. But like Rousey…Joanna fell as well. It happens to the very best of champions. The biggest question just becomes, how will they rebound?

Joanna will get her immediate rematch at the beginning of April in UFC 223’s co-main event. After suffering her first career defeat, a lot has been made of her weight cut for her last fight which makes that a very interesting factor going into the rematch. Has Joanna outgrown 115-pounds and will she be able to make the weight comfortably with a new nutrition team so soon?

The most surprising thing about Rose’s upset victory was definitely how she won it. Everyone who chimed in pretty much figured that if Rose was going to win, she was going to have to find an opportunity for a submission. But that never even came close to being the case. Which is funny, because when Rose appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience last month, she even mentioned it herself that she expected a submission win rather than a knockout.

How will the rematch go? Will Joanna get her title back or will it be Rose who proves that she is here to stay?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/20/2018.