Jump to:
Rose Namajunas continues her grappling journey
Continuing her submission grappling run from last year, former two-time UFC strawweight champ Rose Namajunas will next compete at the ADCC Open in Denver, CO this weekend. The grappling promotion revealed Namajunas’ spot on their lineup on their smoothcomp page late yesterday.
Though this appeared official, Namajunas has yet to comment on her upcoming grappling appearance. Her husband and coach Pat Barry confirmed her participation when asked by Bloody Elbow earlier today.
ADCC is coming to Denver, CO
The ADCC promotion has long enjoyed a close relationship to the UFC. Chael Sonnen famously rolled with Aussie superstar Craig Jones at the 2017 ADCC’s, and several former ADCC champions like Rodolfo Vieira and Vinny Magalhaes have taken their ground game to the cage. Namajunas herself is a BJJ brown belt, with a 45% submission rate in her MMA career as of publishing.
“Thug Rose” first popped onto grappling fans’ radars with an appearance at Fury Pro Grappling 6 last year. Taking on fellow UFC fighter Gillian Anderson, Namajunas was quickly taken down and submitted via RNC in under a minute. Seemingly undeterred, the 30-year-old could have a shot at redemption by facing standouts like ADCC Trials vet Jasmine Rocha.
The ADCC Open starts May 13, 10am EDT exclusively on FloGrappling.
Namajunas is coming off a loss in the Octagon
Rose Namajunas’ last UFC fight was a split decision loss to Carla Esparza in 2022. In that fight Namajunas lost her strawweight title. A belt she had reclaimed with a win over Zhang Weili a year prior.
The win over Zhang (her first, she beat Zhang again before fighting Esparza) started Namajunas’ second title run. Her first started in 2017, after she defeated Joanna Jędrzejczyk. Her first title run ended in 2019 with a loss to Jessica Andrade.
Join the new Bloody Elbow
Subscribe to our Substack!
About the author
