‘I’ve Never Been Hit Like That Before’- Rose Namajunas Warns Valentina Shevchenko About Andrade’s Power

Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will make her return at UFC 261 to fight Weili Zhang for the strap. Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman will headline the card in Jacksonville, Florida. Also, Jessica Andrade will attempt to dethrone the current women’s flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko.

Namajunas has fought ‘Bate Estaca’ twice and trained with Shevchenko on numerous occasions. So, she knows the strengths and holes in both ladies’ games. Speaking to Ariel Helwani recently, ‘Thug’ previewed the flyweight contest.

She referred to Andrade’s incredible power and said, “Valentina just has to make sure that she doesn’t sleep on her…You know, man, it’s tough to say, because all it takes for Andrade is just to connect one time, and it’s total like, I’ve never been hit like that before.” 

“I’ve trained I trained with Valentina and Valentina has some serious power as well, but Andrade hits different. So, Andrade could put a chink in Valentina’s armor, but that’s really hard to find on her,” she added.

“You know, Andrade is gonna watch out for the left high kick, left body kick and honestly, that’s that’s kind of the main thing. But Valentina’s grappling is also super stellar. So it’s like, I think they all have they both have really dangerous tools to pose against each other,” the former champion concluded.

Can Rose Namajunas reclaim her throne at UFC 261?

Namajunas will look to re-capture the gold when she fights Zhang at UFC 261. However, ‘Magnum‘ will pose a different kind of threat to her. ‘Thug‘ has fought the toughest of opponents throughout her career, but Zhang, who is on a 20-fight win streak, will probably be her toughest test to date.

It remains to be seen how Namajunas fares against the Chinese star. Also, the battle between Andrade and Shevchenko is an intriguing one for the fans and will be the first of the UFC 261 card’s three title fights.

What do you make of Namajunas’ comments on the women’s flyweight title fight?

Also Read: Darren Till Says Underestimating Masvidal is the Biggest Mistake of His Life