UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas stunned the MMA world when she completely dominated Joanna Jedrzedczyk, winning the title in 2017.
For Namajunas, who advanced to the finals of The Ultimate Fighter before falling to Carla Esparza for the inaugural title, the year was one she’ll never forget.
But it didn’t always appear to be that way.
Namajunas told The MMA Hour recently that she never felt confident in her abilities until several things came together at one.
“There were times where I didn’t know for sure this is how it’s going to happen, but I had a strong feeling that it would,” Namajunas said. “Even though there was a lot of challenges that I had to get over, the stars seemed to align for me, certain blessings and people that were brought into my life.”
Namajunas, who trained with former bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko, believes that was a key difference in her preparation for Jedrzejczyk.
“One, just for example that popped into my head, Valentina Shevchenko and her team coming into town was a huge help for me and just getting to know them was awesome,” she said. “Just little things like that proved that this is where I’m supposed to be and it’s just kind of my destiny I felt.”
