Dana White Says Jessica Andrade Is An Absolute Beast, This Is Really Tough Fight For Rose Namajunas
Reigning UFC Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will be defending her title tonight (Sat., May 11, 2019) at UFC 237 PPV event from inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when she clashes against top contender Jessica Andrade.
Namajunas (8-3) holds a pair of victories over former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, in first outing ‘Thug Rose’ stole the title from Joanna, and in the second run she defended the strap successfully last year.
Ahead of her UFC 237 bout Rose Namajunas opens a slight underdog to top-ranked challenger Jessica Andrade. Even previously Namajunas defies the odds to win the title at UFC 217. Considering Andrade is a tough opponent, this fight would be a tough test for Namajunas.
UFC head honcho Dana White recently talked about Namajunas vs. Andrade bout saying people are downgrading ‘Thug Rose’ once again.
“This is a really tough fight for her. Andrade is a beast, an absolutely beast,” said White during a recent appearance on the Jim Rome show (quotes via MMA Weekly). “A lot of people think Andrade is going to run right through Rose but let’s not forget Rose beat Joanna Jedrzejczyk twice and everybody on her way to get to Joanna Jedrzejczyk. She looks better every time she fights.
“This is one of those fights I have no idea how this is going to go. I get why Rose is the underdog but people are underestimating Rose once again.”
White is respecting champion Namajunas’ willingness to fight at her opponent Andrade’s turf Brazil.
White was explaining his phone call to Rose about fighting on foreign soil a place where Crowd is pretty harsh and hostile toward non-Brazilians.
“A lot of people will not go down to Brazil,” White said. “They fear that they don’t get the right call from the judges and the crowd is so hostile. It’s basically Brazil versus the world,” White explained.
“When I tell you this, we called Rose Namajunas and told her this fight and told her that she was going to be defending her title in Brazil, on Andrade’s home turf, [she] didn’t even flinch. Didn’t even question it. Nothing. She just accepted the fight and I have a lot of respect for her for that.”
Let’s wait and see who’s the better fighter tonight, but if Namajunas run over Andrade tonight as she did twice to Joanna, it’s time now she should be considered the best Strawweight of all time.
