ROSE PLANS ART ATTACK
Champ pictures win
AFTER pulling off the ‘Upset of the Year’ in 2017, strawweight champion Rose Namajunas knows it will be tougher this time around.
The American relieved Joanna Jedrzejczyk of the belt with a firstround KO in November – an amazing win she has called her “work of art”.
She makes her first defence of the title with a rematch against Jedrzejczyk at UFC 223 in New York a week Sunday.
And ‘Thug’ Namajunas knows she must be at the top of her game against the Pole, who had an unbeaten MMA record of 14-0 prior to their first meeting.
Namajunas, 25, said: “Having the rematch is the tough part. After all, you can’t paint the Mona Lisa twice, can you? I know I will have to do something different and just have to keep getting better all the time. Anything can happen.
“Any opponent can be dangerous, especially one as good as Joanna. After all, she had made five successful defences.
“I felt like I had robbed a bank when it first happened because I was such a big underdog.
Crack
“I think the rematch will be a bigger version of what it was the last time.
“I think she’s going to make some adjustments. But I think what happened last time is going to be in the back of her head and eventually she might crack under that.
“I definitely feel I am the better fighter. I have a lot going for me. I just have to remember these things.” Namajunas (7-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has been boosting her confidence ahead of the Brooklyn clash by watching a video of her title success.
She said: “I can’t count how many times I’ve watched it. I’ve seen it over and over again. It’s watching my work of art. It’s like a visual art piece.
“I had always been really good at a lot of different things, but I had never before come in first place, before that title fight.
“It was such a gratifying feeling, that I became first in the world in something I really care about. It is one of the best feelings ever.”