Rose Namajunas has her eyes set on becoming a UFC two weight world champion but certainly isn’t overlooking Amanda Ribas ahead of their main event bout at UFC Vegas 89.
The pair will meet at the top of the bill in the UFC Apex on March 23 as former Strawweight champion, Namajuas, looks to flourish in a new weight division against the number 8 ranked Flyweight, Ribas, who will be wanting to claim one of her biggest scalps to date.
Namajunas’ debut at 125lbs did not go to plain when she faced the, then, number three ranked Manon Fiorot at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Spivac. Although losing by way of unanimous decision, there were a lot of positives to take away from the 15-minute affair. The 31-year-old has openly admitted struggling with the aftermath of losses in the past but the Fiorot loss has made her hungrier to get back in there.
Addressing the media, ‘Thug’ Rose lifted the lid on the Fiorot fight and how the matchup against Ribas came about. She said:
“So after the Manon fight, I had to heal my pinkie and that happened but as soon as the fight was over, I was like, man, I was so close. I felt like I could have won that fight if I just you know, if there was just a little bit of different here and there and, you know, whatever should’ve, could've, would’ve- Stuff like that. But I just had that taste of like ’man!’ Like, usually I get down on myself after a loss, but it just motivated me so much more. So I was like, I knew after the fight I wanted to get right back in there, but I had to heal my pinkie had some other, like personal stuff I had to figure out.
“Then it took me a little bit to kind of get those things in order but as soon as I was like, ready, I was, I was looking for a fight and then I got offered a little bit earlier for this fight, but I wasn't 100% ready just with some personal stuff. Then I got offered in March 23 and I was like, Yeah, that's perfect.”
Ribas enters the bout on the back of highlight reel, third round stoppage over Luana Pinheiro at UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Craig. The Brazilian’s exciting style, forward pressure and well rounded skillset appealed to Namajunas when the name was put to her – as did the spot in the rankings.
“Excitement because of how she fights, her energy, her skills, the fact that she's in the top ten because for some reason I'm not ranked or whatever, even though I'm like pound for pound ranked so that is super strange, but I'm like, okay, I never really paid attention to rankings, but now I'm like, Yeah, it'd be nice to be ranked. So all of those things combined. I was just very excited to hear that name, but I was ready for anybody. I really didn't care who popped up.”
Without dismissing the task at hand, Namajunas confessed that her goal for the year is to become a two-weight division champion but equally understands that it may be a bit of an uphill struggle to claim gold in 2024.
“Becoming two division champion this year would be awesome, you know. But I know that's a very steep mountain to climb and I know I have had some setbacks. So, you know, obviously I got to be realistic. But I do believe that that's very realistic. God willing, that's what's going to happen. I just got to take care of business this weekend and yeah, that's what we'll do.”
