Vengeance provides
Rose
Namajunas with further incentive in her latest assignment.
“Thug Rose” will defend her undisputed
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight title
against
Carla
Esparza when their rematch serves as the
UFC
274 co-headliner on Saturday at the Footprint Center in
Phoenix. Esparza submitted the Trevor Wittman protégé in their
first encounter seven-plus years ago. Much has changed since.
Namajunas answers the bell on the strength of a three-fight winning
streak. She last fought at UFC 268, where she eked out a split
decision over
Weili Zhang
in their Nov. 6 pairing. Esparza, meanwhile, has rattled off five
consecutive victories. She last competed on May 22, when she put
away
Xiaonan Yan
with punches in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 188
encounter.
As Namajunas and Esparza march toward their high-stakes
confrontation at 115 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that
have accompanied them to this point:
29: Years of age for Namajunas, who was born in Milwaukee on June
29, 1992.
5: Namajunas wins by submission, accounting for 45% of her career
total (11). Her methods of choice: four rear-naked chokes and one
flying armbar. Namajunas holds two other wins by knockout or
technical knockout and four more by decision.
300,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Namajunas across
her 12 appearances inside the Octagon. She has been awarded
“Performance of the Night” on three occasions and “Fight of the
Night” on three others.