UFC women’s strawweight contender Rose Namajunas has responded to UFC president Dana White’s claims that she does not want a title shot.
Namajunas defeated Jessica Andrade on Fight Island in a “Fight of the Night” performance that earned her the next title shot against UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang. That fight was initially expected to take place in early 2021. However, UFC president Dana White recently said that Namajunas doesn’t want the fight with Zhang and the UFC is now considering giving the next title shot at 115lbs to Carla Esparza instead.
Speaking to fans on her YouTube channel, Namajunas addressed White’s comments about her not wanting to fight Zhang, saying that she is ready to step back into the Octagon.
“I don’t know if you follow stuff that’s out there in the MMA news, but apparently there’s some confusion going on about my next fight and whatever. So I don’t know. I’m not worried about any of that. I’m just ready to fight. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know that you guys are ready for me to fight, too,” Namajunas said (via MMAjunkie.com).
Namajunas also addressed the assertions that she is a weak-minded individual. The former UFC women’s strawweight champion has been very vocal in the past about the personal issues she faced following the Conor McGregor bus incident a few years ago, which has led to Namajunas becoming a target of online criticism. To that end, Namajunas wanted to make sure her fans know the criticisms of her being weak-minded are far from the truth.
“Maybe there’s a misconception out there that I’m weak-minded or whatever or, ‘I can’t handle the pressures of being champion,’ or whatever the (expletive) people say. That’s not true. That’s what I live for. I’m the pressure cooker. What better reason to remind me why I fight than (my grandfather) passing away. I am super ready for all of that because that’s what I am fighting for,” Namajunas said.
Do you want to see Rose Namajunas vs. Weili Zhang or do you want the UFC to give the title shot to Carla Esparza?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on December 21, 2020