Manager: Ex-UFC champ Rose Namajunas to stay at flyweight, will return in first half of year

Despite falling short in her divisional debut, former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is sticking around at flyweight.

Namajunas (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) was outlasted by top contender Manon Fiorot in her flyweight debut this past September in Paris.

Namajunas dismissed the notion that she’s too small for 125 pounds after the loss, and her manager, Brian Butler, confirmed that she won’t be dropping back down to strawweight.

“She’s going to stay at flyweight,” Butler told MMA Junkie Radio. “You’ll see her first half of this year.”

Namajunas revealed that she dislocated her pinky finger in Round 1 of her fight against Fiorot. “Thug Rose” still managed to stand toe to toe with Fiorot, winning Round 3 on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

Namajunas holds two wins over current UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili, but Butler said Namajunas likes her chances at flyweight.

“Unfortunately in her last fight, she popped her finger in the very first round and was not really able to get her groove going until a little too late,” Butler said. “It didn’t deter her at all, and she felt very confident that if she had all of her tools that she could have won that fight.

“If Rose is confident, if Rose’s mind is into it, nobody’s beating her. Like I said, if Rose is on a mission and Rose wants to do something and she’s motivated for it, that’s a problem for everybody.”