Rose Namajunas: ‘Possible’ to jump the line to flyweight title shot with UFC Denver win

Rose Namajunas is hopeful a main event win in her hometown can secure a flyweight title shot.

Namajunas faces Tracy Cortez in the UFC Denver headliner this Saturday at the Ball Arena. With flyweight champion Alexa Grasso expected to defend the title at UFC 306 in September, UFC hasn’t officially announced whether Valentina Shevchenko will be the challenger or if Grasso will face a different fighter.

If Namajunas is able to secure a victory, she believes there’s a possibility she could hop in there for a crack at becoming UFC’s second women’s two-division champion.

“Anything is possible, but I think it’s possible,” Namajunas said on The MMA Hour. “That’s obviously what I’m waiting for and what I’m hoping for, praying for, but it’s all about God’s plan and what he has in store for me.”

Namajunas is 1-1 at 125 pounds since moving up from strawweight — a division in which she captured the world title on two separate occasions.

She’ll face Cortez, who is replacing Maycee Barber in her first main event and enters the fight on an 11-fight win streak, including an impressive 5-0 start to her UFC tenure.

Despite Cortez being ranked lower than Barber, Namajunas understands she has her hands full this Saturday.

“I think she’s got some great skills,” Namajunas said. “Her wrestling is really good. I think her striking is shown to be improving since her last fight or whatever, and it’s been a while since we’ve seen her, so I’m assuming she’s gotten better since then as well.

“So I think the game plan is pretty much the same thing for me, I just think Tracy likes to grapple more than Maycee does. I think Macy likes to clinch more. So it’s just kind of like making those adjustments and stuff. But yeah, if Tracy was a little bit more active, I would say she’d be higher up the rankings, so by her skills, I’m very impressed. I think she’s very tough, she has no quit in her, so those are the things that I prepared for.”