When discussing UFC women’s legends, no one stands out more than Rose Namajunas. A former two-time strawweight champion, Namajunas will return to the Octagon at UFC 324 to face Natalia Silva on January 24 after a brief hiatus. She stands apart on the roster, often shaving her head or sporting a buzz cut to minimize distractions and stay focused during fights.

Over the years, Namajunas has left a lasting mark on the promotion, thanks in large part to her parents. They nurtured her fighting spirit, instilling the drive and ambition to succeed in their own unique way, even though they were not fighters themselves. Now, at 33, ‘Thug’ continues to excel in the flyweight division. Now, ahead of her fight, let’s know more about Rose Namajunas’ parents.

Who is Rose Namajunas’ father, Arturas Namajunas?

Rose Namajunas’ father, Arturas Namajunas, is sadly no longer alive. Even when he was alive, he remained largely absent from her life. He faced a difficult battle with schizophrenia, which caused him to drift away from his family. Arturas moved to Germany when Rose was young and later passed away there from pneumonia while she was still a teenager.

“My dad died, and he wasn’t in my life because he had schizophrenia, so it’s been something that my entire family has been fighting against since I can remember,” Rose Namajunas once said. Nevertheless, Rose did not grow up weak. In 2024, before her fight against Macyee Barber, she faced a tense encounter with Barber’s father.

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“He was just yelling in my face saying, ‘We’re coming for you,’” Namajunas told Mike Bohn. “It’s like, ‘Hey, chill out man.’ I don’t have a dad in my life, so I’m going to have to get some other people. Because if we’re going to gang up on me, then I’ve got to get a gang up too.”

Her mother shaped much of Rose’s confidence and helped build her persona into “Thug Rose.” Despite this, Rose grew up tough, navigating the predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Milwaukee where she stood out as the only white girl among her friends. In the process, her upbringing taught her to act resilient, fearless, and ready for any challenge.

Who is Rose Namajunas’ mother, Jolita Frank?

Rose Namajunas was born on June 29, 1992, to Jolita Frank. Her mother, Jolita, works as an artist, though in a different field. She turned her hobbies into a career as a musician, training at the Lithuanian Academy in Music and Theater. Even so, Rose draws inspiration from her mother’s creativity in her own way.

“My hands look like my dad’s and my mom’s put together. She’s a piano player, he was an artist, and I use the creative qualities I got from them in my fighting,” Rose Namajunas once said.

Nevertheless, Rose chose a different path from her mother, and her brother Nojus also pursues a career in mixed martial arts.

What are Rose Namajunas’ parents’ ethnicity and nationality?

Unlike many people of mixed heritage, Rose Namajunas comes from a strong European lineage. Both of her parents, Jolita Frank and Arturas Namajunas, carry full Lithuanian ancestry. Lithuania, a Baltic nation on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, regained its independence after the fall of the USSR in 1991. After that, her parents migrated to the United States in search of new opportunities. Although Rose holds American citizenship by birth, her name “Rose” preserves her connection to her ancestral homeland.

Her great-grandmother, Róże Gotsalkaite Namajunas, inspired her name. Róże’s husband, Juozas, served in the Lithuanian army and defended the country against Soviet forces. When the USSR occupied Lithuania, they killed Rose’s great-grandfather, which strengthened her family’s resistance to communism.

Later, her grandfather became a national champion under the USSR regime. Even though Rose now lives in the United States, she maintains her Lithuanian roots through her grandmother and, as a result, visits Lithuania frequently. “Yesterday was Lithuanian Mother’s Day! I am very grateful to my grandmother, without her I wouldn’t be able to speak Lithuanian,” ‘Thug’ wrote in 2023 on Instagram.

Inside Relationship With Her Parents

Arturas Namajunas dealt with personal struggles that sometimes made him a danger to himself and others, a reality Rose has acknowledged openly. Because of these experiences, she developed a deep understanding of the seriousness of mental health and how it can affect families.

“The biggest thing you learn is that mental health is no joke. People have real problems and in some cases they’re not safe, even if you love and care for them. That was the case with my Father,” Rose Namajunas once said.

Later, Rose’s mother, Jolita, remarried and focused on creating a more stable life for her children. Despite this, Jolita rarely attended Rose’s fights. However, confusion surfaced at UFC 268 following a broadcast mistake. After Rose secured the win, ESPN showed her hugging an older man and woman cageside and incorrectly identified them as her parents.

Soon after, Rose addressed the error directly and set the record straight herself.

“That is not my parents that ESPN put that I was hugging after the fight. Yes, this is my mom guys (Rose shows her mother to the camera), and my dad’s not here. He’s no longer with us. So I was actually kind of pissed because it was like just my dad’s birthday, just this past like week. And yeah, so that kind of upset me,” Rose Namajunas corrected in 2021.

Since then, Rose Namajunas has moved beyond those painful moments and cemented her legacy as one of the most accomplished figures in women’s MMA. Today, she stands firmly among the sport’s true elite and is ready to add another fight to her resume at UFC 324. Now, attention turns to whether her mother will be in the arena this time.