"My body was definitely not liking that" - Rose Namajunas explains moving up to flyweight, touches upon two-division championship dreams

Rose Namajunas is all set to compete in the second-ever flyweight bout of her professional MMA career. Heading into the matchup, the former two-time UFC women's strawweight champion has addressed moving up to the 125-pound weight class and ambition of becoming a two-weight UFC champion.

During the UFC Vegas 89 fight week media scrum, Namajunas asserted that it'd be awesome if she were to become a two-division UFC champion this year. The 31-year-old acknowledged that it'd be a steep mountain to scale and that she's suffered a few setbacks.

Najamunas affirmed, however, that her two-division goal is "very realistic." She indicated that if she managed to win her upcoming matchup, she might go on to fight for the UFC women's flyweight title. The American fighter implied that she's injury-free, adding that the weight cuts at flyweight have been healthier for her immune system.

She said:

"Becoming two-division champ this year would be awesome. But I know that's a steep mountain to climb and I've had some setbacks so I've got to be realistic. But I do believe that that's very realistic."

Furthermore, Rose Namajunas was asked whether her objective entails winning the flyweight belt and then pursuing the strawweight or bantamweight (135-pound) belt to become a simultaneous two-division champion.

'Thug' appeared to suggest that she's focused on winning a world title in a weight class other than strawweight and isn't preoccupied with concurrently holding a title at two weight classes. However, she did note that "anything's possible."

Moreover, regarding whether it's safe to say that her days at strawweight are behind her, Rose Namajunas hinted that she's steering clear of that division for now. 'Thug' said:

"I mean, I just think like, health-wise, to me, it's just not a healthy thing to do for me at this point. I know that I could keep pushing through it. My mind got a lot stronger with cutting the weight. But I could tell my body was definitely not liking that as much. I could tell from my last strawweight cut. My eyes were sunken in, and that's just kind of hard to see myself like that."

She added:

"Even though the will gets stronger, the flesh gets weaker. So, to me, it's like, I'm all about health and wellness, even though we're about to go and fight. But I want to preserve as much as possible."

Check out Namajunas' comments below (4:18 and 6:33):

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Rose Namajunas eyes first flyweight victory moving into UFC Vegas 89

Presently, the UFC women's flyweight division is ruled by Alexa Grasso, who's expected to put her title on the line against former flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in their trilogy matchup this year.

Meanwhile, former UFC women's strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas is scheduled to face Amanda Ribas in a highly-anticipated flyweight showdown this Saturday.

The Ribas-Namajunas matchup will headline the UFC Vegas 89 event on March 23, 2024. Ribas holds the No. 8 spot in the official UFC women's flyweight rankings, whereas 'Thug' is still unranked in the division.

Besides, Rose Namajunas' flyweight debut, her most recent fight, witnessed her lose to Manon Fiorot via unanimous decision in September 2023. A win over Ribas would mark Namajunas' first victory ever at flyweight.