“Thug Rose” supplies the material for this installment of The Film Room.
Namajunas entered the UFC as a pure grappler with rather sloppy striking skills. Just five years later, she ranks as one of the smartest standup fighters in the division -- one who can be effective on the lead and on the counter. Namajunas likes to keep a wide stance with a constant bounce to her feet, using it to quickly dart forward with combos and retreat from oncoming attacks. It might not look like much, but these frequent in-and-out movements and feints draw reactions from the opponent that she can exploit. In her first fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Namajunas jumped in and out of the pocket while feinting the right hand, as the Pole stood her ground and attempted to counter. Later in the fight, Namajunas used the same in and out movement and a right-hand feint to draw a jab out of Jedrzejczyk, countering the punch with a lead hook and right straight over the top.
On the lead, “Thug Rose” also places focus on taking angles to set up her attacks. In the first fight with Jedrzejczyk, Namajunas was continually throwing a lead hook while taking a deep step to her left and throwing the right hand after. Later, she dropped “Joanna Champion” with the same combination and finished the fight with ground-and-pound. Namajunas had a difficult time getting any offense going against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, as she was flustered by the KSW veteran’s pressure. When she did land, Namunas took inside and outside angles to set up her right hand.
Earlier in her career, Namajunas was a much better counterstriker than she was working on the lead, but these days, her counters are only used when needed rather than being her main source of success on the feet. Something to notice: She almost always counters in combination instead of single precision strikes. She does not have many intercepting counters at her disposal and instead elects to make the opponent miss before coming forward with her own attacks. Make them miss, make them pay.
Namajunas has historically struggled with pressure and fighters who are willing to take a punch to get close to her. Kowalkiewicz and Tecia Torres both enjoyed success rushing “Thug Rose” and landing knees in the clinch. Namajunas has sound defensive footwork, and while it remains difficult to back her to the cage, trapping her and forcing exchanges in the pocket is the way to go. Andrade is the most aggressive woman in the division and will certainly look to back down Namajunas and unload with combos against the fence.
Namajunas does not have a good takedown game, but when the fight does hit the ground, she offers relentless ground-and-pound. Against Paige VanZant, “Thug Rose” did not want to take any chances on the feet and dominated the former Team Alpha Male rep on the ground for nearly five full rounds. She puts equal focus on striking and improving position while engaged on the ground. Oftentimes, fighters get caught doing one or the other and either lose position or waste a dominant position by not striking enough.
“Thug Rose” holds the rank of brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Tony Basile, and five of her eight wins have come by submission, four of them rear-naked chokes. Once on the ground, Namajunas likes to get to full mount and look for ground-and-pound. As opponents grow increasingly flustered, they usually surrender their backs, at which point she can lock up the rear-naked choke. Since Andrade is an ultra-aggressive striker who has struggled to work off of her back in the past, expect Namajunas to rely on her grappling more than ever and avoid taking any chances on the feet with the heavy-handed Brazilian.