When Amanda Nunes declared her retirement plans, the whole world of MMA was shocked. There have been very few fighters who have been as dominant as Nunes throughout their careers. In her last fight in the UFC, Nunes was supposed to face Julianna Pena, but ‘The Lioness’ ended up defending her title against Irene Aldana and retired like a champion.

Now, there seems to be a pattern that Nunes has set in motion. Former UFC Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas has also expressed interest in walking down a similar path. After her last fight in 2022, against Carla Esparza, Namajunas took some time away from the sport and during this time, she even considered retiring.

Another Lioness in the making? Rose Namajunas wants to be Double-Champ?

Amanda Nunes, one of the most feared women fighters in the UFC, was the first woman to become a double champ in the promotion. She won the Bantamweight title and lost it to Julianna Pena in 2021, only to reclaim it in 2022.

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Rose Namajunas, who is a former two-time Women’s Strawweight champion, says she has something similar in mind. After the loss in 2022, Namajunas had some time to re-evaluate things and now, after nearly a year, she is coming back to the UFC. On 2 September, Rose Namajunas will take on Manon Fiorot in a Women’s Flyweight bout, on UFC Fight Night.

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Namajunas opened up on the ‘final goal’ that she had before she can consider retiring. “One of the last goals on my list was like… maybe I could become two-division champ, you know. And obviously that has a lot of question marks around it but… that’s kind of like where we’re at right now, you know.“, said Namajunas. 

Helwani then asked Namajunas if she was considering retirement during her time away from the UFC. To this, Namajunas replied with a ‘musical’ analogy and stated that she was not comfortable with the way things turned out (indicating her loss to Esparza). Now, as she is equipped to make her return to the UFC, Namajunas is looking to follow in the footsteps of Amanda Nunes and become the second woman in the UFC to hold two championship titles.

Amanda Nunes Shut the Door on UFC – WWE contract and UFC return

Amanda Nunes retired as the undisputed champ across two divisions in the UFC – the Featherweight and the Bantamweight division. The UFC has two fight cards to make so that the vacant titles may be occupied by a worthy candidate. However, Nunes has explicitly said that she is done with the UFC and has no plans of returning ever.

On the other hand, a lucrative offer from the WWE might prove as incentive enough for her to jump ships where she could find herself facing her former rival, Ronda Rousey. Although, in the middle, there were rumors suggesting that Rousey might return to the UFC, Ariel Helwani debunked this and said that Rousey might not actually make that move.

“She Lying” – Despite Laying Bare Her Struggles, Rose Namajunas Accused of Pulling “Dramatic” Stunt After Shocking Retirement Claims

Taking all that into consideration now seems like a great time for Namajunas to come back with a bang and reinstate herself as one of the most powerful and dominant fighters in the promotion. The question, however, is can she do what Nunes did? Now that she is moving up to the 125-pound division, will things be as easy for her? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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