Rose Namajunas Aims For Spring Return Against Jessica Andrade

Rose Namajunas is targeting a spring return against the number two ranked strawweight.

Namajunas hasn’t competed since April. She defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk via unanimous decision in their rematch to retain her UFC strawweight title. “Thug” Rose has been healing some injuries before stepping back inside the Octagon. The good news is, she has an idea of when she’d like to return.

Namajunas recently spoke to reporters backstage at UFC Denver. The 115-pound champion said that she’s looking forward to returning in the spring and says Andrade is deserving of a title opportunity:

“Right now I’m kind of getting back into strength and conditioning, conditioning my body, not really taking impact to the head or anything like that. Just working on being a better athlete and, I guess, managing everything else in my life. Then after the holidays I think we could start talking about a fight. I don’t see how anyone other than Andrade would make sense. I know she wants to stay active, and if she wants to have another fight until I’m ready, then that’s cool. But if not I’d love to have the chance at her.”

Andrade is coming off a devastating knockout victory over Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Since losing to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Andrade has gone on a three-fight winning streak. She’s defeated Claudia Gadelha, Tecia Torres, and Kowalkiewicz along the way. On top of that, “Bate Estaca” has gone 6-1 in her last seven outings.