UFC women's strawweight champion Rose Namajunas reiterated her interest in wanting to face former champ Carla Esparza for her next title defense.
Namajunas spoke with MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn on the red carpet of the 2021 World MMA Awards last week and made it clear that despite the promotion's hesitance to grant Esparza the next title shot at 115-pounds, she urged them to make the rematch between the two happen. Esparza won the pair's initial meeting back at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale in December 2014, where she defeated Namajunas via a third-round submission due to a rear-naked choke to become the inaugural UFC women's strawweight champion.
“It’s the only one that makes sense,” Namajunas said. “I can fight anybody, but nothing really interests me other than Carla. I think it’s probably maybe because she’s a wrestler or something (that they don’t want to give her the fight), I don’t know. Maybe it’s hard for them to get behind her, but I don’t know what it is, really. I do think she was sitting out and waiting for the title shot and that wasn’t the best move, but honestly, I think it just makes sense. Make it happen.”
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