Free fight: Rose Namajunas stuns Joanna Jedrzejczyk to win strawweight title at UFC 217

Rose Namajunas shook up the UFC 115-pound division with a massive upset at UFC 217.

At the time, Poland’s strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk was in devastating form, having defended her title five times with her irresistible combination of relentless pace and striking output that no other fighter in the division could match.

On paper, Namajunas (8-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) was projected to be just another victim, having already fallen short twice in her six UFC bouts – to Carla Esparza for the title in “The Ultimate Fighter” finale and to Karolina Kowalkiewicz, both of whom Jedrzejczyk already beat in convincing fashion.

Jedrzejczyk played her usual mind games pre-fight, but none of that mattered on the night, as the pair squared off at UFC 217 to kick off the event’s UFC championship triple-header.

Namajunas came out looking confident and light on her feet as she darted in and out of Jedrzejczyk’s striking range. With many expecting her only chance for success to be on the ground, Namajunas surprised many by looking a step ahead in the striking exchanges, and stunned the crowd when she dropped Jedrzejczyk with a big overhand right.

It didn’t take long for Namajunas to follow up on her initial success, as she landed a perfect left hook that knocked Jedrzejczyk down. This time, the champion wasn’t able to recover, and a few ground strikes were all that were needed to force the stoppage as Namajunas claimed the title in dramatic, emphatic fashion.

The two faced off for a second time at UFC 223 and Namajunas reigned supreme once again, retaining her title in a five-round battle.

Recap their first meeting via the video above.