Rose Namajunas on why Weili Zhang vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk wasn't the 'Fight of the year'

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UFC 248 Adesanya v Romero

Weili Zhang vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 this March was widely regarded as the greatest Women's MMA fight of all time and one of the "Fight of the year" candidates in 2020. It was Weili Zhang's first Strawweight Championship defense and it ended with her retaining the title via unanimous decision. One fighter who wasn't as impressed with it was the first woman to beat Joanna Jedrzejczyk in MMA - Rose Namajunas.

The former UFC Strawweight Champion spoke to ESPN's Ariel Helwani (H/T MMAJunkie) and praised the fight, but said that she didn't get why people thought it was the fight of the year:

“It was a great fight and both of them are some savages for sure.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."

Rose Namajunas stated that people often think a fight is the "best fight" if there's a lack of defense and it's just two people hitting each other:

"I don’t think it’s 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.”

Rose Namajunas' chance at redemption

Unlike Weili Zhang, Rose Namajunas wasn't able to get past her first title defense. The Brazilian Jessica Andrade beat Rose Namajunas via a slam to the head in the second round in her home country to win the Strawweight Championship.

She would lose it a few months later to Weili Zhang, who has become one of the top names in Women's MMA. If Rose Namajunas can beat Jessica Andrade at UFC 252, then she could be in line for a shot against Weili Zhang.

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