Preview! ‘Thug’ Rose Looks To Repeat History In Brooklyn
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight titleholder, Rose Namajunas, will rematch Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the UFC 223 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event later tonight (Sat., April 7, 2018) inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
One of the great things about this fight, is that it will tell us what kind of fighter Jedrzejczyk is. In my mind, there is more to being a champion than just winning a bunch of fights and parading around town with gold belt.
It’s also about overcoming adversity.
Jedrzejczyk can blame her weight cut, her doctor, and whoever else she feels is responsible for last November’s crushing loss to Namajunas, but it’s not like she ran out of gas in the second round, or didn't have the same pop in her punches.
She got smashed, plain and simple.
We’ve seen her dropped before (Claudia Gadelha) and the more likely scenario is that Jedrzejczyk believed Namajunas was an inferior striker incapable of upsetting the 115-pound apple cart. Anyone who read my awful predictions for UFC 217 will know the Pole wasn’t the only person subscribing to that theory.
“Thug” Rose shut a lot of us up.
Jedrzejczyk looks to have her weight under control and hasn’t been talking the same amount of shit ahead of their UFC 223 rematch. A measured, disciplined striker could be a problem for Namajunas, who is still coming into her own as both a fighter and a person.
But she’s not to be taken lightly.
I don’t think it’s outrageous to suggest that we see five rounds of kickboxing. Namajunas is dangerous on the ground but getting Jedrzejczyk there will be damn-near impossible.
Unless Jedrzejczyk (and her ego) tries to make a statement in round one and gets put on her ass for the second time, she’s likely to employ a more patient attack, and use her edge in both speed and volume to frustrate the champ and cruise to an easy unanimous decision win.
Check out their fight video preview above.
For much more on tonight’s UFC 223 PPV event click here.
