Ahead of UFC 217 last November, Joanna Jedrzejczyk opened up as a heavy favorite against then-challenger Rose Namajunas, and rightfully so. Not many people were expecting such an outcome, where “Thug Rose” ended up dethroning the two-year strawweight champion via first-round knockout.
Namajunas, however, was not surprised by the outcome and was not at all intimidated by Ju0119drzejczyk’s striking prowess that led to a dominant run in the UFC alone.
“(I knew I was going to knock her out) because everyone is so desperate for the takedown,” Namajunas said on a recent episode of the JRE MMA Show (transcript via MMAjunkie).