"I needed a piece of the humble pie" - Rose Namajunas on her title loss to Carla Esparza
Rose Namajunas recently took account of her loss to former 115-pound champion Carla Esparza.
The pair of fighters met many moons ago in 2014. Esparza ultimately got the upper hand and won by submission in the third round. Recently on an episode of the UFC's Run It Back YouTube series, Rose Namajunas discussed why the loss was an important part of her development as a mixed martial artist. She said:
"Man I just had to stop being an a**hole. [laughs] No I mean, not that, but just like be, have self-awareness you know what I mean like, I was just kinda floating through life and just no direction with anything. I needed a piece of the humble pie, ya know."
As the only woman to recapture a UFC title after losing it, Rose Namajunas is adamant that her learning lesson from Esparza still fuels her in competition today.
Rose Namajunas touches on Joanna Jędrzejczyk calling her 'emotionally unstable'
After reminiscing about her UFC career, Rose Namajunas mentioned that Jędrzejczyk called her emotionally unstable, before quickly pouring cold water on that notion. She said:
"I guess Joanna would have been right had I won that fight, if, I was emotionally unstable, but I lost that fight and I, you know, learned how to, I've matured. I mean I was like, what...22? Twenty-two, I mean I was going to be two years younger than Jon Jones becoming a champion of the UFC."
Looking back on her first title fight against Esparza, at just 22 years old, Namajunas was fixated on the idea of surpassing Jon Jones as the youngest UFC champion to grace the octagon.
While Rose Namajunas was unable to make good on being the youngest champion, she has undoubtedly etched her name in the UFC history books. After regaining her title and fending off former champion Weili Zhang, many fans began the matchmaking process for the champ's next octagon appearance.
We started this division together... Round 2?! #respect #tuf20 @ufc https://t.co/NjXXNjNQ9l
Rose Namajunas has won every rematch she has had in the UFC. First, she defeated the long-standing champ, Joanna Jędrzejczyk--twice to cement her first stay as the 115-pound queen. After losing by TKO to Jéssica Andrade in 2018, the pair of strawweights rematched and Namajunas took home the decision.
As ideas for potential opponents are starting to subside, there is a considerable faction of fans eager to see Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza finally run it back. Since their first fight was also for 115-pound gold, the story comes full circle as 'Thug' intends to follow through successfully with another familiar foe.