Rose Namajunas plans to capture UFC strawweight title before the end of the year

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 24, strawweight star Rose Namajunas dominated the dangerous Michelle Waterson to a second-round submission win, establishing herself as the division’s top contender as she did. Having done so, she can now probably look forward to a fight with the winner of UFC 211’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Jessica Andrade title fight sometime later this year – at least, that’s her hope.

Speaking to the media in the moments after UFC on Fox 24, Namajunas explained that her goal is to capture the UFC strawweight title before the year is out.

“There’s no need to get too specific right this second, but I changed all my e-mail and computer passwords to ‘And New 2017,’ so that’s what I have in mind, just that general goal,” she said (via MMAFighting.com). So, [I want to be champion] sometime before the year’s over with, but I don’t want to put a specific stamp on it yet.”

While Namajunas’ title shot is not official just yet, UFC President Dana White seems to be into the idea.

“She put on the performance of a lifetime,” White told UFC reporter Megan Olivi of Namajunas’ win. “There was a lot of hype behind [Michelle Waterson] after her last victory over Paige VanZant, and she came out and did what she had to do to solidify herself. You know, she called out whoever wins the title next time, so I think she’s ready.” 

With her defeat of Waterson, Namajunas improved her overall record to 6-3. The win separated her from a close decision loss to recent title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz, which occurred all the way back in July of 2016.

Jedrzejczyk and Andrade will battle for strawweight gold in the co-main event of UFC 211 on May 13. Do you think Rose Namajunas is ready for a shot at the winner?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/16/2017.