5 reasons why a win over Carla Esparza will make Rose Namajunas the UFC's strawweight GOAT

#2. Rose Namajunas could theoretically be at the top of the division for a while yet

Despite all of her success, Rose Namajunas is not 30 years old yet

Given that she arrived in the UFC alongside the other fifteen cast members from the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter, fans could be forgiven for seeing Rose Namajunas as an aging veteran at this point.

After all, only a handful of Namajunas’ fellow cast members remain part of the UFC’s roster, with the likes of Angela Hill (37 years old), Felice Herrig (37 years old) and Tecia Torres (32 years old) now largely seen to be in the midst of the final chapters of their careers.

In fact, even Carla Esparza, who, along with ‘Thug Rose’ has been the most successful cast member, is on the wrong side of 30, as she’s set to turn 35 this October.

Namajunas, on the other hand, was the youngest member of the TUF cast back in 2014 and is yet to reach her 30th birthday. Essentially, she’s probably only just reaching her prime years right now in terms of her athletic ability.

That means that, barring any catastrophic injuries, she should be around at the top of the division for a long time yet, giving her more opportunities to really carve out an even longer-lasting legacy and cementing her as the UFC’s undisputed strawweight GOAT.

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#1. Rose Namajunas has beaten trickier opponents than Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Some of Joanna Jedrzejczyk's big wins don't really hold up today

One fighter who could argue that she, and not Rose Namajunas, is the UFC’s strawweight GOAT is Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The Polish striker does have two losses to ‘Thug Rose’ on her record, as she was unseated for the strawweight title by her in 2017, but she also has something Namajunas can’t boast.

Thus far, both of Namajunas’ title reigns have seen her make just one successful defense. If she defeats Carla Esparza this weekend, she’ll have two in her current reign and three overall.

In contrast, Jedrzejczyk, who held the title from March 2015 to November 2017, was able to reel off five straight defenses before finally losing to Namajunas.

However, while five defenses sounds great on paper, there’s probably an argument that only two of those defenses really hold up as strong victories: the wins over Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Andrade, who are amongst the best strawweights to ever step into the octagon.

In terms of the others, though, Jessica Penne wasn’t really the top contender at the time and only received a title shot so that the UFC could put together a late-notice headliner, Valerie Letourneau had just two wins to her name at 115 pounds, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz earned her shot off the back of a series of tight decision wins, one of which – over Namajunas – was somewhat questionable.

On the other hand, while they didn’t come in title bouts, Namajunas holds wins over Andrade, Michelle Waterson, Angela Hill and Tecia Torres, all of whom would be considered tougher opponents than Penne or Letourneau.

Essentially, ‘Thug Rose’ has beaten tougher opponents than Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and should be considered above her in terms of deciding the UFC’s strawweight GOAT.