Rose Namajunas answers if she sees Carla Esparza rematch as a "revenge" fight

​

Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza (right) [Image Courtesy: ufc.com and @UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship on YouTube]

Rose Namajunas doesn’t consider her rematch against Carla Esparza as a way of getting revenge for losing the first encounter. As per the reigning UFC women’s strawweight champion, she doesn’t need any extra motivation to fight anybody.

In the lead-up to her second title defense at UFC 274, Namajunas was interviewed by TMZ Sports and talked about a wide variety of topics. During the conversation, ‘Thug’ was asked if she sees her upcoming bout as an opportunity to exact revenge on Esparza, who defeated her eight years ago.

Namajunas calmly replied to the question stating:

"Not really, no. I mean… I just… I don’t need any extra excuse to wanna to fight somebody, you know what I mean? I’m a fighter, true in my blood and stuff… I’m excited for a fight. But yeah, I mean it definitely like creates a little bit more of an exciting energy as far as like having that… extra motivation and practice and stuff. But like revenge is the Lord’s. I’m always leaving it to the man upstairs."

Watch Namajunas' full interview with TMZ Sports below:

Both 'Thug' and 'Cookie Monster' were participants in the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter TV series. The first all-female season was focused on crowning the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion. They met in the finals of the competition, where Esparza submitted Namajunas with a rear-naked choke in the third round to win the title.

​

Namajunas followed in her footsteps by defeating then-current champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 217. She lost the belt to Jessica Andrade at UFC 237. ‘Thug’ regained the title at UFC 261, where she knocked out Zhang Weili.

The 29-year-old then went on to defeat Weili in a rematch and now has her sights set on her upcoming bout with Carla Esparza this Saturday at UFC 274.

---

Rose Namajunas on first fight with Carla Esparza and her success since

​

During her UFC 274 media scrum, Rose Namajunas was asked if she's taken the time to reflect on her first fight with Carla Esparza. ‘Thug’ readily accepted that she had done so on a few occasions. However, the 29-year-old was quick to point out that her first bout with Esparza took place eight years ago.

Having established herself as one of the most dominant strawweights in the history of the division, 'Thug' has come a long way and believes she is "a completely different person."

​

Next, she was asked what she believed contributed the most to her success. Namajunas had no problem replying that keeping her spiritual life a top priority has played a major role in her growth and success:

"Yes, I think just order and priority of things is what’s most important and that’s, you know, you’re spiritual first and then I think everything else kind of falls into place from there. But it’s still a process and getting to that point all the boxes have to be checked in."

Watch Rose Namajunas' full interview below:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​