How did Rose Namajunas look like before she went bald?
Rose Namajunas used to sport long blonde locks of hair before she decided to go bald. Namajunas chopped off her hair days before her fight against Paige VanZant, which served as the headliner of UFC Fight Night 80 on December 10, 2015 in Las Vegas.
'Thug' claimed to have traded her long hair for a buzz cut as her longer hair was hindering her practice. Posting a picture of the new hairdo, Rose wrote on Instagram:
"It's a fight, not a beauty pageant. Sh*t's in my way at practice ... cut it off!"
The new hairstyle appeared to work well for Rose Namajunas as 'Thug Rose' dominated the entire fight and finally sunk in a rear naked choke to earn a submission at 2:25 in the fifth round.
Paige VanZant showed immense heart in surviving eight takedowns and five submission attempts, including several armbars that saw her arm twist and turn in several directions. The fight also snapped VanZant's four-fight winning streak and put Namajunas on a win-streak of her own.
Rose Namajunas' fiance at the time, Pat Barry, who was also a former UFC competitor, confirmed her reasons for the haircut. Barry was also upset about the fact Rose's hairdo was a topic of concern going into her first UFC main event. Pat Barry told MMA Fighting:
“Rose is the main event of a UFC fight card and everyone wants to ask her about her haircut. What does the haircut have to do with the fight? I have no idea. When it comes down to training, when it comes down to everything else, she cut it so it could be out of her way. It was a problem.”
Catch a glimpse of Namajunas' old look below:
Zhang Weili also chopped off her hair after losing to Rose Namajunas
Zhang Weili lost her UFC strawweight strap to Rose Namajunas at UFC 261 which also marked the first knockout loss of her MMA career. Weili took a page from Namajunas' book and chopped off her hair following the defeat. Posting a picture of the new hairstyle, Weili wrote on Instagram:
"Seems to go back to the beginning of the practice of Sanda. I'm a teenager".
Although Weili could not avenge the loss and suffered another defeat in the UFC 268 rematch, she eventually became the strawweight champion and seems poised to rule the division in the foreseeable future.