Rose Namajunas Explains Why Zhang vs. Jedrzejczyk Isn’t FOTY

Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas doesn’t believe the fight between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk is the best 2020 has had to offer.

Zhang made the first defence of her 115lb title against Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 in March. The two women went to war over five rounds in what many believe to be one of the best fights of all-time. Ultimately, Zhang walked away with a split decision win to retain her title but the bout could’ve gone either way.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of ESPN Namajunas gave props to her strawweight rivals but expressed her personal opinion that the fight cannot be considered as the best this year due to the lack of defence on show, she said.

“It was a great fight and both of them are some savages for sure. However, the only gripe that I have about it being like the best fight ever or whatever is that people always say that, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. I don’t think it is a good thing to have the ‘best fight ever’ based on how people look at the ‘best fights ever’. 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.”

‘Thug Rose’ suggested the featherweight scrap between Josh Emmett and Shane Burgos at UFC on ESPN 11 is a much more worth candidate for fight of the year, she said.

“You know what was the greatest fight ever recently was Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos. That was a beautiful display of like both two different styles. To me, that was the ‘fight of the year.’” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)

Do you agree with Rose Namajunas? Or do you believe Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is the best fight of 2020?