Issue 136

December 2015

Standing rear naked choke finally gets ‘Thug Rose’s UFC career up and running

Rose Namajunas was in a hurry to get her first Octagon win at UFC 192. After a disappointing debut loss last December and a last-minute fight cancellation in May, she was itching to exchange with Angela Hill in Houston. That made for a chaotic couple of minutes of combat that fans in the Toyota Center lapped up, but it meant that ‘Thug Rose’ – who was the heavy favorite going into the contest – was in a far more competitive fight than most people had imagined. She realized it was going take a more measured approach to set up a special fight-finishing submission.

“I felt like I was making a couple of technical mistakes – overcommitting sometimes,” says Namajunas. “I always have a tendency to be like a tornado and I have to pull it back. When I’m calm, patient and more like a cat – ready to pounce on the opportunity – I’m a lot more dangerous. I’m dangerous when I’m aggressive, but it’s more crazy and I tend to gas myself out. 

“I just have to pull it back and be patient. The plan was to stick the jab and wait for the right opportunity. I’d capitalize on whatever mistakes she made and the finish would present itself.”

Sure enough, when Alliance MMA strawweight Hill relaxed, Rose started to land punches without reply, and then hit a smooth takedown that was set up with an overhand right. Now she was in a realm where Hill – a striker first – was out of her depth and more likely to make that fatal error.

Seconds later ‘Overkill’ turned her back and Namajunas had an opening to pounce on. But finding the finish against such a tough opponent wasn’t easy, and she had to adjust to secure the standing rear naked choke while Hill staggered around the mat, wearing her like a backpack.

Stand and deliver!

Namajunas is only the fourth person to win by standing rear naked choke in the UFC after Matt Hughes, Urijah Faber and Keita Nakamura.

Pressure pays off

“I had to switch my grip to make sure I could give more pressure. I know she’s got a no-quit attitude, so I really had to make her go out.”

Need for squeeze

“I knew I had to squeeze really hard. If she was going to be able to get out of that, my arm was going to be gassed, but I knew I was just going to go for it, I didn’t care.”