Michael Bisping believes Rose Namajunas submission loss to Gillian Robertson explains why she “was so timid” in rematch with Carla Esparza

Michael Bisping believes Rose Namajunas’ recent submission loss to Gillian Robertson could explain her UFC 274 title defeat.

During her career, Rose Namajunas has provided fans with two of the greatest title wins in UFC history. Her triumphs over Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Zhang Weili, simply put, were both remarkable in their own sense.

However, ‘Thug Rose’ has certainly experienced her fair share of setbacks. In her latest outing back at UFC 274, she fell to a surprising split decision defeat at the hands of Carla Esparza – the same woman who beat her to win the inaugural title.

The fight was, to put it lightly, not great. Neither woman was really willing to engage and that led to a pretty dull five-round affair.

Namajunas returned to action at Fury Pro Grappling 6 last week. Unfortunately, it took just over a minute for Gillian Robertson to submit her in the contest.

MMA analyst Michael Bisping has now linked the two losses together during an episode of his podcast.

“Gillian Robertson tapping out Rose Namajunas in just 65 seconds. That there makes me understand why she was so timid, Namajunas, or played it so safe against Carla Esparza,” Bisping said. “Esparza tapped her out the first time, I believe, when they fought. Didn’t tap her out the second time, but you could see it was there, messing with her mentally.”

Quotes via MMA News

Namajunas’ big problem

Regardless of whether or not she needs to improve her grappling, fans just want to see Namajunas get back in the cage. The unpredictable nature of her career trajectory may be frustrating but it’s also one of the reasons why everyone continues to root for her.

Are you excited by the prospect of Rose Namajunas returning to the UFC? Does Michael Bisping have a point? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, BJPENN Nation!