Namajunas believes that Bate-Estaca 'deserves to be the next challenger'

R. Namajunas hasn't fought since April this year. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @rosenamajunas

Jessica 'Bate-Estaca' Andrade knocked out Karolina Kowalkiewicz at 1:58 of the first round of the UFC 228 co-main event in September. With a great performance, the Brazilian won the 'performance of the night' bonus and also caught the attention of the strawweight champion, Rose namajunas. Without fighting since April at UFC 223, the North American admitted that the Paraná native deserves to be the next challenger for the title.

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“Even after I beat Joanna for the second time, there seemed to be no consistent challenger in the division. I always paid attention to Jessica Stacker, but let's say that her latest performance changed things and made it clear who really deserves to be the next title challenger. But there are still other interesting talents in the strawweight division,” said Namajunas in an interview with the official UFC website.

Although she is the strawweight champion, Namajunas believes she still needs to prove that she is a complete athlete. This is because, Rose believes that people consider her the same fighter she was submitted by Carla esparza at the TUF 20 Finale in December 2014.

"Tatiana Suarez placeholder image wants to challenge me, and people think I'm still the same fighter that was defeated by Esparza. This situation is interesting for me to have the chance to not only prove something to myself, but also to the rest of the world that I am truly more mature and a complete fighter, and not who I was when I was 22 years old. Maybe if I get to the point where I have a reason to move up a category, I'll move up. I still have a lot of issues to resolve at strawweight,” said Rose.

Rose namajunas won the strawweight belt after knocking out the division champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217 in November 2017. The rematch against the Polish woman was held in April this year at UFC 223. The North American beat her rival by unanimous decision from the judges and retained the category title. At 26 years old, the fighter has 11 fights in her career, including eight triumphs and three setbacks.