Rose Namajunas became the UFC women's strawweight champion after defeating Joanna Jędrzejczyk at the UFC 217 pay-per-view in Madison Square Garden last Saturday. Her post-fight comments were as humble as anything.
Rose, 25, although nicknamed "Thug", is a very genuine human being, who has experienced a lot of struggles to arrive at this point of her career. The American martial artist lost her dad at a young age and was also a victim of sexual abuse as a child.
Nevertheless, she found solace in the art of combat and decided to make the plunge in mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2010. Rose made her debut in the UFC on October 3, 2015 at UFC 192; she defeated Angela Hill.
Quite a lot of things happened since then. One of the most notable things was the sacrifice of her once-gorgeous long blonde hair, just to improve her fight game. UFC fans still now complain the fact that Rose did so.
They claim that if the long flowing hair stayed, Rose could have been one of the most beautiful women's champions in all of MMA.
Contradicting everyone, we feel Rose looks beautiful, even though she has gone bald!
An old video of hers -- yes, during her gorgeous long hair days -- has suddenly gotten viral following her UFC 217 victory. Rose, who does a video log, acts naughty and wakes up her boyfriend Pat Barry, who is sleeping away to glory.
Barry, 38, is a former UFC heavyweight fighter. He has been with her since many years, ever since Rose's Invicta FC days.
Both are engaged now and due to be married soon.
"Ever since the day we met, I specifically remember telling her that, 'You are special and you have a talent,'" Barry told the UFC recently. "'And if this is really what you want to do, we'll do whatever it takes to make sure it can happen because you have what it takes.'"
"There are a lot of people who work really hard and a lot of people who train hard and dedicate themselves, but they're missing that little bit extra, and Rose has that little bit extra. She's special."
