“Thug” Rose Namajunas is the two-time UFC Strawweight champion. She is a The Ultimate Fighter season 20 finalist. Namajunas is now under one of the greatest MMA coaches of all time with Trevor Wittman.
Knowing Rose’s journey to the greatness she has now will make you admire her more as a fighter and who she is. Come with me, and let’s dive into the Rose Namajunas profile.
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Rose Namajunas base stats
| Full Name: | Rose Gertrude Namajunas |
| Nickname: | Thug |
| Weight Class: | Strawweight |
| Net Worth: | $1.5 million |
| Born: | June 29, 1992 |
| Country Of Origin: | United States |
| Profession: | Mixed Martial Artist Competitor |
| Fight Record: | 11-5 (wins-losses) |
| Height: | 1.65 m (5’5 in) |
| Weight: | 115 lbs (52 kg) |
| Last Updated: | August 7, 2022 |
Thug Rose’s Net worth
Approximately Rose Namajunas has a net worth of $1.5 Million or more throughout her MMA career. Compared to other female fighters in the UFC, this net worth is huge considering the number of fights and attention given to the women’s divisions.
Her most significant pay was her last fight against Carla Esparza. Despite losing the belt, Rose had a bigger base salary of $300k, plus the pay-per-view points as the champion and other sponsorship brand deals.
Thug Rose’s weight class
Rose has fought almost exclusively in the Strawweight division throughout her mixed martial arts career. Namajunas has consecutively won the Strawweight belt, defended it, then lost it again twice.
Rose’s fighting career
Rose Namajunas was a finalist of TUF season 20. She fought Carla Esparza for the Strawweight title in the finals but lost. However, she bounced back and became a two-time Strawweight Queen, defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang.
Rose Namajunas Vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Namajunas fought Jedrzejczyk for the first time as the strawweight challenger. A lot of trash talking came from Joanna before and during the fight, but Rose kept calm and composed.
MMA fans were rooting for the bigger and more experienced Joanna to win the fight. However, when the fight started, Rose showed how good her feints were and how elusive she was as a target. Counter after counter, the crowd begins roaring on her side.
The first fight shocked the world as the underdog, Rose Namajunas, knocked down Jedrzejczyk with a perfectly timed right straight at 3:08 left in round 1. A series of ground and pound immediately follow it up, but luckily Joanna managed to stand up.
Shortly after the reset, Joanna felt confident again. She’s throwing good jabs, but a solid left hook caught her by Namajunas that shuts her legs down. Again, Rose proceeds to the ground and pound. Joanna was too hurt and forced to tap out due to strikes.
Despite clearly tapping out, Rose’s win was announced as a knockout. An excellent way to shut a trash talkers mouth.
Rose Namajunas Vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 2
Joanna asked for a rematch, and Rose accepted. This was a new story. Both fighters were bouncy in the first round. Rose’s accuracy shined as she landed some well-timed left hooks that swelled Jedrzejczyk’s eye over time.
Jedrzejczyk’s primary weapon in this fight was her chopping leg kicks. At first, it seems not to affect the champ, but in the championship rounds, Rose lost her bounciness and became a standing target.
Despite the loss of good movement, the champ still did a great job slipping some jabs and straights. She continued to land some counters that shook Joanna’s face every time. Rose converted a take-down right before the fight ended for some extra scorecard points in the fifth round.
Namajunas remained the undisputed Strawweight champion. She won by a decisive unanimous decision that finally sealed her rivalry against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Rose Namajunas Vs. Weili Zhang
Rose Namajunas seeks to regain his Strawweight gold after losing it against Jéssica Andrade. But now, she’s taking it from Weili Zhang, the woman who knocked Andrade out 42 seconds into the first round.
Rose looked focused and ferocious in the first match-up. The champ landed some excellent leg kicks, but Rose remained bouncy as she was. Weili was confident and loose on his feet as the first bell rang.
Namajunas was doing good with her in and out footwork and feints. This strategy made her unpredictable and, at the same time, very elusive. Weili continues to fire some inside leg kicks with her wide high guard.
1:18 left in the first round, Rose landed a sneaky head kick that knocked Weili off her feet. Some unnecessary ground and pound followed until the referee finally stopped the fight. After that, Weili was protesting about the stoppage while having wobbly feet, which was ridiculous.
After this spectacular win, Rose became a two-time Strawweight champion cementing her greatness in her division.
Rose Namajunas Vs. Weili Zhang 2
Weili and Rose had a rematch in UFC 268. Both fighters are fighting on their toes in round one. Again, Weili throws an outside leg kick to the Champ, while Rose successfully lands several punch combos.
In the middle of round 1, Weili converted a takedown. She landed some excellent ground and pound, but Rose luckily got up.
Weili wobbled Rose with a big left hand in the second round. Rose immediately throws a left-side thrust to keep Zhang away. After recovering, Namajunas landed a solid left kick to the head that her opponent caught and transitioned into a high-crotch take down.
Again, Weili took Namajunas down. Rose landed a crisp, up kick right on Zhang’s face; Weili kept being relentless and continued with the ground and pound. Both the fighters stood up, and this time, Rose scored a takedown and ended the round in top position.
The third and fourth round was an exact copy of each other. Both fighters mixed it up with takedowns, submission attempts, and many scrambles on the ground. In the third round, Weili almost got a rare naked choke locked in, but Rose escaped.
The fifth and final round was the deciding round. After extremely close previous rounds, Rose showed who the champion was and controlled Zhang on the ground for nearly 5 minutes straight.
At the end of the day, Rose defended her belt and won via split decision.
Removing her long hair
Back in 2015, Rose Namajunas shaved her head before fighting Paige Vanzant. The public was confused about why Rose did this. Many controversies arose; some speculated it was a disease or insecurity problem.
“Thug” Rose settled the issue on one of her Instagram posts and said that MMA is not a beauty pageant.
Although she is a UFC fighter with long hair, she was getting distracted too much during her training and fights, so she decided to cut it all off.
Rose’s husband: Pat Barry
There’s always been a big guy cheering for Rose Namajunas. This guy is Pat Barry, a former UFC and Glory Heavyweight fighter. Barry is Rose’s long-term fiance and training partner.
Barry is now retired as a fighter and is now fully committed to helping her partner’s MMA career as an assistant coach, training partner, and corner man.