Natalia Silva is unbeaten in the UFC, but former champ Rose Namajunas believes she has identified a pattern in her opponents’ approach that led to their downfall.
On the main card of UFC 324, former 115-pound titleholder Namajunas (14-7 MMA, 12-6 UFC) takes on Silva (19-5-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in a very important women’s flyweight bout. The winner could be next up for a title shot, and Namajunas said she has been told that would be the case if she’s victorious.
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Getting to that title shot against Valentina Shevchenko means getting past Silva, who has been flawless through seven UFC appearances. Namajunas sees a similarity between Silva and former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who shut down many opponents with her offensive gameplans.
“Obviously, Joanna, she doesn’t throw as many dynamic strikes as Natalia, and I think Natalia has more power than Joanna does, so you have to be very cognizant of that,” Namajunas told MMA Junkie Radio. “But as far as her sort of more of a defensive style, not that Joanna wasn’t, I don’t think she was as defensive. She was more in your face than Natalia is, but in terms of, in the sense that so many girls fight her and they’re just waiting for the opportunity to try to take her down. Like they’ve already lost the fight before it began, because they don’t believe in their striking enough to have a mixed martial arts fight with them.
“So I feel like even when they do get close, they can try to grab her or something, and she pops right back up, or they can’t get her to the ground, they get like deflated and defeated in that, and then she can style on them.”
Namajunas says she won’t put herself in a similar position as Silva’s previous opponents. She’s confident in all aspects of fighting and won’t allow herself to get frustrated, no matter where the fight goes.
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“I feel like in that aspect, it’s very similar to Joanna in the same sense where Joanna, she definitely defeated a lot of people because they didn’t believe in their striking, and I believe in my striking 100 percent. Obviously, that’s my bread and butter.
“I’m a great mixed martial artist, and obviously I have a lot of submission wins, and my jiu-jitsu is amazing and my wrestling too, but I love to strike. I love to move. I love to make people miss, and I love to make them pay for their mistakes. So, you know, that’s what I’ll be looking to do.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 324: Namajunas believes Silva’s opponents ‘lost before it began’
