Thug: Weili-Joanna ‘Not The Best Fight Ever’

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Surprisingly, a fighter nicknamed “Thug” is not impressed by thuggery.

The Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk strawweight title bout, which took place in the UFC 248 co-main event last March in Las Vegas, is widely-considered to be the greatest female fight of all time and an early contender for “Fight of the Year” in 2020.

Sadly, it won’t be getting a vote from Rose Namajunas.

“If you think about the best fights when people say that, it’s always a lack of defense, people that are getting hit a lot. To me, that’s not the best fight ever,” Namajunas told ESPN (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “It was an awesome display of heart and I was truly impressed with both of them, but at the same time only so much. It wasn’t the best fight ever. I look at fights differently than most fans do.”

Namajunas, who holds a pair of championship victories over Jedrzejczyk, believes the title of “best ever” should be applied to those contests that demonstrate superior skill sets, and not just five-round barnburners that deliver bloody, back-and-forth action.

“If you look at my second fight with Joanna – because that went all five rounds – my head movement was (slick),” Namajunas continued. “I mean, I got a little bit of a busted lip, a little scratch here and there, but that was mostly from me slipping the punches like perfectly out of the way.”

Namajunas (8-4) will look to avenge her 2019 loss to ex-champion Jessica Andrade when they collide in the upcoming UFC 251 pay-per-view (PPV) event later this month on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, with a potential shot at Zhang hanging in the balance.