Latest news with #RoseNamajunas
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tracy Cortez 'grew a ton' from Rose Namajunas loss, excited to show evolution at UFC 317
Defeat can be painful, but often times, it's a necessary hardship for growth. Tracy Cortez, a contender in the UFC women's flyweight division, feels she's a testament of that and is thankful for her loss to former UFC champion Rose Namajunas in July 2024. Nearly one year later, Cortez (11-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) makes a return this Saturday against veteran Viviane Araujo (13-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) at UFC 317 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Advertisement Cortez, 31, didn't enjoy losing a decision to Namajunas, but did enjoy the evolution that came with it, and she can't wait to show it in her return. "I was obviously bothered that I lost, but I did feel like I learned a lot from that fight," Cortez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. "I learned a lot. I knew that I had good cardio, I'm well-conditioned, but I had never been in a five rounder. I remember telling my coaches, 'Hey, I can fight another round.' I had a lot more inside of me to give. So I learned a lot from that fight, and above all else, I feel like I grew. I grew a ton as a person and fighter. "I can be very harsh on myself. I try to be positive, but it's hard because as an athlete who's competing, you never want to lose. I applied everything I learned from my last fight to this camp and I feel 100 percent right now." Cortez was undefeated in the octagon prior to Namajunas. She was also on an 11-fight winning streak dating back to a lone stumble in her 2017 professional debut. Given her popularity, top 10 ranking in the UFC and record, Cortez doesn't view the short-notice defeat to Namajunas as a significant setback. She said two more wins after Araujo on Saturday, and she's in title contention. Advertisement "I honestly think that after winning this one, maybe one or two fights, I'm ready to fight for the title," Cortez said. "There's obviously a lot of people in front of me who already deserve the title fight, and have been competing for a long time, but all in due time. I know it's close, it's not that far." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 317 Tracy Cortez 'grew a ton' from Rose Namajunas loss
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rose Namajunas surprised by accuracy of $500K UFC Atlanta salary reports after prior 'bogus numbers'
Rose Namajunas was arguably the biggest winner from UFC Atlanta in more ways than one. Namajunas gave the ho-hum event an injection of life this past Saturday when she and former training partner Miranda Maverick battled it out in the night's co-main event, with Namajunas walking away the victor of a hard-fought unanimous decision to rebound from a loss to Erin Blanchfield late last year. After the event, the Georgia State Athletic Commission released salary figures for the fighters on the card, and Namajunas topped the list as the highest earner with a $500,000 payday ($250,000 to show, $250,000 to win). Advertisement Speaking on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show," Namajunas was surprised, but not bothered to see the numbers made public. "It definitely was an interesting thing," she said. "I always remember them releasing bogus numbers, like fake numbers, for the longest time — but I'm going to be honest, it was accurate this time, at least for me. I don't know about everybody else. So I don't know, there's nothing I can do about it. "I'm actually very proud of what I've worked up to at this point, because there was a lot of patience for a long period of time, and I think it's just nice to know that [I'm in this position now]." It's been a long journey to get here for "Thug Rose," who's had a life full of battles both inside and outside of the cage despite being still just 32 years old. The 15-year MMA veteran has been there and done that as a two-time former UFC strawweight champion. She could very easily push her credentials around and demand what she feels she deserves at this stage of her career, however Namajunas likes that she can sit back comfortably. Advertisement "To me, it's just nice to get to a point where it's letting other people do the talking," Namajunas said. "If other people think I deserve something, let them say it. I'm not going to be out here like, 'I need a title shot or I need this, I need that. I deserve this, I deserve that.' Let my actions show that — and that's what I've been trying to do. Hopefully it's been showing that way, but I'd rather people tell me what I am or speak for me, I should say, than me go out and be like, 'Man, I'm this, I'm that.' "I say, 'I'm the best [before fights],' but that's just me trying to pump myself up." Although she isn't making demands, Namajunas does have one clear goal in mind — eventually capturing the UFC women's flyweight title and joining the exclusive ranks of two-division UFC champions. To do so, she'd have to depose her friend and inspiration, two-time champion Valentina Shevchenko, assuming Shevchenko still holds the belt by the time a matchup makes sense. Considering her recent fight against Maverick, a Shevchenko showdown wouldn't be the first time Namajunas has competed against someone she's previously called a training partner. Advertisement If the fight were to happen one day, Namajunas can see both the positives and negatives. "It would definitely be weird," she said of Shevchenko. "I like her too much, but at the same time, I'm not opposed to fighting people that I've trained with before. It would definitely be bittersweet, because on the one hand, as a mixed martial artist fan, she's somebody that I really look up to and is somebody that I never want to see lose. But if I was matched up against her, it'd be like, 'I'm going to do my best,' because I know how real of a martial artist she is and she wants to test herself. She wants to be pushed to the limit. It would kind of be that weird thing, but we would just have to embrace it. "It's one of those things where it would be bitter in that sense, but then it would also be sweet in the sense of I get to test myself against 'The Bullet.'"
Forbes
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC Atlanta Pay: Rose Namajunas Earns Highest Reported Fighter Payout
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 14: Rose Namajunas is interviewed after defeating Miranda Maverick in a ... More women's flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at State Farm Arena on June 14, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC) Saturday's UFC Atlanta fight card saw two former UFC champions walk away with victories. In the main event, ex-UFC welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman ended a three-fight losing skid with a decision win over Joaquin Buckley. Meanwhile, in the UFC Fight Night's co-main event contest, former two-time UFC strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas defeated Miranda Maverick via decision. Below, we look at disclosed fighter pay/salaries for the UFC Atlanta fight card. Kamaru Usman: $300,000, no win bonus Joaquin Buckley: $150,000 Rose Namajunas: $500,000 ($250,000 to show, $250,000 win bonus) Miranda Maverick: $125,000 Edmen Shabazyan: $186,000 ($93,000 to show, $93,000 win bonus) Andre Petroski: $100,000 Raoni Barcelos: $102,000 ($51,000 to show, $51,000 win bonus) Cody Garbrandt: $275,000 Mansur Abdul-Malik: $28,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 win bonus) Cody Brundage: $65,000 Alonzo Menifield: $250,000 ($125,000 to show, $125,000 win bonus) Oumar Sy: $26,000 Rodolfo Bellato: $12,000 Paul Craig: $125,000 Michael Chiesa: $300,000 ($150,000 to show, $150,000 win bonus) Court McGee: $83,000 Malcolm Wellmaker: $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus) Kris Moutinho: $14,000 Jose Ochoa: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus) Cody Durden: $63,000 Ricky Simon: $166,000 ($83,000 to show, $83,000 win bonus) Cameron Smotherman: $14,000 Phil Rowe: $110,000 ($55,000 to show, $55,000 win bonus) Ange Loosa: $30,000 Jamey-Lyn Horth: $50,000 ($25,000 to show, $25,000 win bonus) Vanessa Demopoulos: $65,000 *Numbers via MMA Fighting Kamaru Usman defeats Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) Rose Namajunas defeats Miranda Maverick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Edmen Shahbazyan defeats Andre Petroski via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) Raoni Barcelos defeats Cody Garbrandt via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3) Mansur Abdul-Malik defeats Cody Brundage via technical decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) Alonzo Menifield defeats Oumar Sy via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3) Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato ends in a no contest (Accidental illegal upkick) Michael Chiesa defeats Court McGee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Malcolm Wellmaker defeats Kris Moutinho at 2:37 of Round 1 (Punch to head at distance) Jose Ochoa defats Cody Durden via knockout at 0:11 of Round 2 (Punch to head at distance) Ricky Simón defeats Cameron Smotherman via (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Phil Rowe defeats Ange Loosa via TKO at 4:02 of Round 3 (Punches to head in clinch) Jamey-Lyn Horth defeats Vanessa Demopoulos via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3) ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 14: Kamaru Usman of Nigeria reacts after defeating Joaquin Buckley in a ... More welterweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at State Farm Arena on June 14, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC) Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman ended a three-fight losing skid on Saturday night in the main event of the UFC Atlanta card, cruising to an upset decision win over the younger and favored Joaquin Buckley. The win was Usman's first victory since his final defense of the UFC 170-pound crown in November 2021. Usman's route to victory was to avoid Buckley's heavy hands, score takedowns, and rack up ground control with his heavy top game. Usman picked up one takedown in each of the first four rounds, which was all he needed. Once he had Buckley on his back, Usman kept him on the mat for the rest of the round, picking up 12:26 of control time over the first 20 minutes of the fight. Usman did not get a takedown in the fifth stanza, but he did not need it, as he was ahead on all three scorecards heading into the fifth. It will be interesting to see how the UFC books the 38-year-old Usman after his dominant performance on Saturday night. ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 14: Rose Namajunas reacts after finishing three rounds against Miranda ... More Maverick in a women's flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at State Farm Arena on June 14, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC) Rose Namajunas fought a smart three-round battle against Miranda Maverick in Atlanta. Her striking was on point, and her top game was hard for Maverick to deal with. The win won't answer questions about Namajunas's ability to compete with the top women in the 125-pound division, but she'll at least hold on to her No. 7 ranking in the division. The next fight card on the UFC schedule is the UFC Baku event, which takes place on Saturday, June 21.
USA Today
16-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC on ESPN 69 salaries: Rose Namajunas tops 13 fighters with disclosed six-figure payouts
UFC on ESPN 69 salaries: Rose Namajunas tops 13 fighters with disclosed six-figure payouts Show Caption Hide Caption Who's next for Kamaru Usman after beating Joaquin Buckley? MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Kamaru Usman. Rose Namajunas was the biggest winner at UFC on ESPN 69 – at least from a financial standpoint. Namajunas, a former strawweight champion, led all fighters on the card in disclosed pay as she earned $500,000 for her unanimous decision win over Miranda Maverick in the UFC on ESPN 69 co-main event. On Monday, MMA Junkie obtained the list of disclosed fighter salaries from Matt Woodruff, executive director of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission, which regulated this past Saturday's event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Kamaru Usman earned the second most behind Namajunas as the former welterweight champion earned $300,000 for his unanimous decision win against Joaquin Buckley in the night's main event. In total, half the card (13 of 26 fighters) took home six-figure payouts. You can check out the full list below. It's important to note that the numbers reflect payouts disclosed to the Georgia commission and do not include any discretionary bonuses that might've been paid by the UFC.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Spinning Back Clique: Kamaru Usman's UFC Atlanta shakeup, Rose Namajunas' revival, more
Check out this week's "Spinning Back Clique," MMA Junkie's weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week's panel of Brian "Goze" Garcia, Mike Bohn and Nolan King will join host "Gorgeous" George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics: Advertisement Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman threw a wrench into Joaquin Buckley's plans in the division with an upset win in the UFC on ESPN 69 main event. Now he wants a title shot — but is that realistic, and should the UFC even entertain it? We'll discuss the former champ's future title prospects, as well as Buckley's future after UFC Atlanta. The rest of the card in Atlanta had some interesting results. Included among them was former women's strawweight champion Rose Namajunas reasserting herself at flyweight with a co-main event win over Miranda Maverick. We'll look at that fight, the bizarre no contest on the prelims and more. The first set of finals are set in the PFL at welterweight and featherweight. We'll discuss the results from Nashville and look ahead to this week's semifinals in Wichita, Kan. Outside specific event news, there have been some interesting bookings in the MMA space, as well as big recent news in other combat sports. Plus, we'll look at this week's UFC event in Azerbaijan. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Spinning Back Clique: UFC Atlanta, Kamaru Usman, Rose Namajunas
