Rose Namajunas offered a good-natured apology to reigning UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang shortly following the conclusion of UFC 251.

The former women’s strawweight champion, Namajunas (9-5 MMA), was making her Octagon return at tonight’s inaugural Fight Island event in a rematch against the woman who took her title, Jessica Andrade.

Andrade had defeated Namajunas by way of knockout at UFC 237, this after landing a nasty slam which rendered ‘Thug’ unconscious.

It was thought that the winner of tonight’s rematch would be the next lady in line to challenge Weili Zhang for her strawweight gold.

Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas 2 proved to be an absolute thriller of a fight. After Rose seemingly got the better of rounds one and two, the Brazilian went for broke in the third and final round and ended up leaving ‘Thug’ with a battered face.

However, Andrade’s late surge did not prove to be enough to sway all of the judges, as only one member of the staff ended up scoring the bout in her favor.

Rose Namajunas was taken to hospital shortly following her hard-fought split decision victory over Jessica Andrade.

From the medical center, ‘Thug’ released the following video (courtesy of ESPN) in which she apologized to reigning UFC strawweight queen Weili Zhang.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1282174076207927297

“So would you say that was the greatest female fight ever?” Rose was asked by one of her coaches.

“Probably not. Sorry Weili.” Namajunas confessed. “That was fight of the year (Zhang vs Joanna), I take that back.”

If you recall, Rose Namajunas had previously shutdown the idea of Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 being touted as the “Fight of the year”.

Would you like to see Rose Namajunas challenge Weili Zhang for the title next? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on July 12, 2020