Just nine bouts into her professional career, “Thug Rose” has only begun to scratch the surface of her immense talent. A finalist on Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, Namajunas has compiled a 4-2 record under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner while emerging as the No. 1 contender for Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s women’s strawweight title. The Grudge Training Center rep last appeared at UFC on Fox 24 in April, when she submitted Michelle Waterson with a second-round rear-naked choke at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Namajunas owns other notable victories over Tecia Torres, Paige VanZant and Angela Hill. She holds the rank of black belt in karate and taekwondo but has secured five of her six wins by submission. Barring injury, Namajunas figures to challenge Jedrzejczyk for the 115-pound crown later this year.
Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of June:
JUNE 1
Miodrag Petkovic, 48Michael Buchkovich, 40
Wendell de Oliveira Marques, 34
Patricky Freire, 31
JUNE 2
Chris Haseman, 48Matt Serra, 43
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, 41
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, 41
Christian M'Pumbu, 40
Roan Carneiro, 39
Tatsuya Mizuno, 36
Eduardo Bustillos, 30
Christopher Wing, 29
JUNE 3
Jason MacDonald, 42Linton Vassell, 34
Vernon Ramos, 25
JUNE 4
Tonya Evinger, 36Michael Johnson, 31
James Krause, 31
JUNE 5
Brian Warren, 43Jose Caceres, 30
Ricky Turcios, 24
JUNE 6
David Bielkheden, 38Ray Wood, 28
Xavier Siller, 23
JUNE 7
Chris Wilson, 40Saad Awad, 34
Ryan Bader, 34
Michael Kuiper, 28
Mark Burns, 26
JUNE 8
Dan Severn, 59Marvin Eastman, 46
Hirotaka Yokoi, 39
Noad Lahat, 33
Tim Roman, 32
JUNE 9
Dion Staring, 39John Phillips, 32
Jim Hettes, 30
JUNE 10
Cyrille Diabate, 44Brendan Tierney, 42
Luiz Azeredo, 41
Hiroyuki Takaya, 40
Nordine Taleb, 36
Walt Harris, 34
JUNE 11
Tsuneo Kimura, 35Daron Cruickshank, 32
Artur Kadlubek, 32
J.J. Aldrich, 25
JUNE 12
Andy Ologun, 34Ali Bagautinov, 32
James Chaney, 30
John Lineker, 27
JUNE 13
Daniel Aguiar, 37Greg Rebello, 35
Paul Bradley, 34
Lucie Pudilova, 23
JUNE 14
Claude Patrick, 37Danny Martinez, 32
Chris Barnett, 31
Anatpong Bunrad, 31
Amador Ramirez, 27
JUNE 15
Kevin Casey, 36Joe Stevenson, 35
Ryan Keenan, 32
Gabriel Benitez, 29
JUNE 16
Rich Attonito, 39Daria Ibragimova, 32
Chris Gruetzemacher, 31
JUNE 17
Kuniyoshi Hironaka, 41Chris Weidman, 33
Xiao Yang Liu, 26
Luan Chagas, 24
JUNE 18
Assuerio Silva, 43Matt Baker, 33
Kwan Ho Kwak, 28
JUNE 19
Chris Seifert, 48Savant Young, 41
Mike Swick, 38
Ann Osman, 31
JUNE 20
Roy Nelson, 41Marion Reneau, 40
Quinton Jackson, 39
Alex Caceres, 29
Logan Nail, 28
JUNE 21
Marcos Oliveira, 39Erick Silva, 33
Jake Lindsey, 31
JUNE 22
Randy Couture, 54Ryushi Yanagisawa, 45
Brian Bowles, 37
Hiroshi Izumi, 35
Bethe Correia, 34
Douglas Silva de Andrade, 32
Dave Morgan, 32
Bradley Scott, 28
Taila Santos, 24
JUNE 23
Charles “Mask” Lewis (1963-2009)Rob Wince, 44
Marcos Galvao, 36
Nick Thompson, 36
Paul Ruiz, 30
Mark Striegl, 29
JUNE 24
Junior Assuncao, 36Jessamyn Duke, 31
Brendan O'Reilly, 30
Brian Camozzi, 26
JUNE 25
Yoshihiro Nakao, 45Alexey Oleynik, 40
Luciano Azevedo, 36
Carlo Prater, 36
Marcelo Guimaraes, 34
Marcos Rogerio de Lima, 32
Rob Font, 30
Jung Kyung Lee, 29
Andre Fili, 27
JUNE 26
Pawel Nastula, 47Virgil Zwicker, 35
Eddie Wineland, 33
Faith Van Duin, 31
JUNE 27
Mu Bae Choi, 47Yoshinori Suzuki, 36
Joe Taimanglo, 33
JUNE 28
Sam Hoger, 37DaMarques Johnson, 35
Brennan Ward, 29
Johnny Case, 28
JUNE 29
Shin Kochiwa, 37Ryo Kawamura, 36
Mike Whitehead, 36
Cody East, 29
Jimmie Rivera, 28
Rose Namajunas, 25
JUNE 30
Fabiano Scherner, 45Gilbert Yvel, 41
Katja Kankaanpaa, 36
Dan Miller, 36
Zach Makovsky, 35