In the first defense of her second reign, Shevchenko found herself slated as the underdog against Manon Fiorot. While the Frenchwoman fought well, Shevchenko’s experience and ability to adjust was too much, and she picked up another title defense at UFC 315 with little to no signs of slowing down.
Rose Namajunas
Perhaps no fighter provides more fireworks in title-winning moments than Rose Namajunas. After she lost her belt to Jéssica Andrade, Namajunas adjusted her approach to the fight game, avenged her loss to Andrade and earned a title bout against Zhang Weili. When the two lined up in Jacksonville at UFC 261, many anticipated a sort of repeat of Zhang’s Fight of the Year contender against Joanna Jędrzejczyk from the year prior. Instead, Namajunas produced an epic head kick knockout less than two minutes into the bout to become a two-time champion.
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“Thug Rose” would stifle Zhang once more in their rematch at UFC 268, but ultimately lost her belt to Carla Esparza in one of the more curious fights of the decade thus far. Since then, Namajunas moved up to the flyweight division and has gone 2-2 at 125 pounds.
