Rose Namajunas Targets Carla Esparza Rematch After Title Defense at UFC 268

There’s something special about fighting in New York for Rose Namajunas.

“Thug” Rose improved to 3-0 in the Empire State with a split-decision triumph over Weili Zhang in the UFC 268 co-main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to successfully defend her strawweight title. Her success at the famous venue began in November 2017, when she initially captured the 115-pound belt with an upset win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217, and she also bested Jedrzejczyk in a five-round rematch at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in April 2018.

“New York City inspires me,” Namajunas said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “Like I said at weigh-ins, it’s the toughest people in the world. It’s the coolest city.”

The rematch with Zhang took on a far different look than their first meeting, when Namajunas vanquished her Chinese opponent with a head kick 78 seconds into the opening stanza at UFC 261. This time around, the bout was far more closely contested, but Namajunas put a lasting stamp on her victory with a takedown approximately a minute into Round 5. From there, she spent the majority of the period in top position, landing ground-and-pound from above. There were still a few tense moments when the final scorecards were announced.

“I was pretty convinced going into the fifth round that I had won it. It was pretty close in my mind for the rest of the fight, but going into the fifth, because it was such a dominant round for me, I felt as though I won it,” Namajunas said. “I could’ve kept going even more. When they read her name off on the scorecards I was like, ‘Wait, is it going to be her, then me, then her?’ Judges, you never know what they’re going to see and it was a close fight. So I was ready for whatever.”

Namajunas praised Zhang, who had numerous moments of success throughout a competitive bout. There were more than a few observers who scored the first three rounds for the former 115-pound champion.

“I think Weili did improve,” Namajunas said. “Her distance management was really good. I was expecting that. It wasn’t a surprise in the improvements she made.”

While Namajunas’ 3-0 record in New York is noteworthy, her victory against Zhang moved her to 4-0 in rematches — a mark that also includes triumphs in return dates against Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Andrade and Tecia Torres. Next up could be another rematch, this time against Carla Esparza, who defeated Namajunas for the promotion’s inaugural strawweight title at “The Ultimate Fighter 20” finale in December 2014. Esparza is currently on a five-bout winning streak that has put her in a position as potentially the division’s top contender.

“She was on my mind before going into this one,” Namajunas said of Esparza. “That seems sort of like the logical step, but I’ve got to see what the UFC is thinking I guess. But yeah, I would love to fight Carla.”