Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is back on the hunt for gold.

‘Thug Rose’ has been out of action since her rematch with Carla Esparza in May. Their first encounter eight years prior was one-sided traffic. Esparza dominated and won by submission to become the first UFC women’s strawweight champion.

Nearly a decade later, ‘Cookie Monster’ made it 2-0 in the series in a way nobody expected. For 25 minutes at UFC 274, both women did very little in the form of action. In the end, Esparza walked away with the win by split decision, but it didn’t feel like anybody truly won.

Since that time, Rose Namajunas has been quiet to a return. She’s been called out by names such as Marina Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan, but neither fight came to fruition. Namajunas has enjoyed her time on the sidelines though, even posing for Victoria’s Secret last month.

However, she’s now back in training, and back on the hunt for gold. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, the former champion stated she has her eyes on Carla Esparza’s title defense against Weili Zhang later this month.

There, the former champion revealed she’d love a trilogy with the new titleholder. However, due to their lackluster second fight, Namajunas isn’t sure if it’ll happen anytime soon.

“I’ll be watching,” Namajunas stated. “I’m very excited for those ladies to be fighting at Madison Square Garden. I hope it’s going to be more exciting than the last fight [against Esparza].” (h/t Sports Illustrated)

She continued, “Of course, I would [want a third fight against Esparza]. I don’t know if I’d want to subject the fans to that. It was a snoozefest last time. But if that opportunity comes up, I would love that.”

Currently, there’s no timetable for Rose Namajunas’s return. However, depending on how things go at UFC 281 later this month, she could be right back in the title conversation.

What do you make of this news? Do you want to see a trilogy bout? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!