Dana White Declares ‘Rose Namajunas Does Not Want to Fight For Title’

UFC President Dana White exclusively spoke to Caroline Pearce from BT Sport and broke down everything to do with fighting. The long-time UFC boss is a fight fan through and through, and it shows in his enthusiasm for the sport. White continues to look for new ways to push the envelope despite many years in the sport.

Chiefly, Dana White had a massive revelation for the women’s strawweight division amidst a quickfire round with Pearce. The news about the 115-pound division came in the middle of conversations about marquee players like Jon Jones and Conor McGregor. The 115-pound divisional champion is a fan-favorite fighter and has commanded respect with her performances.

Dana White reveals huge news about Rose Namajunas

The company boss explained that former divisional champion Rose Namajunas is no longer interested to fight for a title. ‘Thug Rose’ has openly spoken out about the pressures of being a champion, and it seems like she’s keen to remove herself from that picture.

“What I’m hearing is Rose does not want a title shot. Rose does not want to fight for a title. I don’t think she did [like the pressure of being champion]. She doesn’t wanna fight for the title so we’ll see how that whole thing plays out.”

Additionally, he also revealed who would be the next rightful opponent to face Zhang Weili, considering Namajunas’ stance.

“So if you look at the rankings and how the whole thing plays out, it would play out Weili vs Carla Esparza.”

Although Namajunas’ stance on facing pressure as a champion was well known, her decision is surprising all the same. For many, fighting for the undisputed strap is the very reason they’re in the fight game to begin with. Moreover, Namajunas’ title reign was arguably one of the most prolific in women’s MMA history.

Fans will be glad to see that there is some clarity around the 115-pound title picture at the very least. Carla Esparza is a former champion in her own right, and she beat ‘Thug Rose’ to claim the strawweight strap in 2014. Moreover, she’s managed to bounce back from adversity and is on a four-fight win streak.