Preview: UFC Fight Night 226 ‘Gane vs. Spivak’

Women’s Flyweights

#10 P4P | Manon Fiorot (10-1, 5-0 UFC) vs. #4 P4P | Rose Namajunas (11-5, 9-4 UFC)

ODDS: Fiorot (-185), Namajunas (+154)

Namajunas’ career has been full of unexpected twists, yet it is still a bit surprising to see this move up to flyweight take place. Namajunas was marked for stardom fairly early, going back to a 12-second flying armbar win in just her second pro fight back in 2013. From there, she would become a standout on “The Ultimate Fighter,” as the UFC kicked off its strawweight division, sticking out as both a dynamic fighter and a fascinating personality whose mental struggles would go on to play out inside the cage. She made it to the final of her season, which doubled as the UFC’s inaugural strawweight title fight, where she looked every bit the raw prospect in getting outwrestled by seasoned vet Carla Esparza. However, Namajunas’ star was not dulled much, as she eventually worked her way up to a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2017. Even with Namajunas’ subsequent success, her title win over Jedrzejczyk feels like the peak moment of her career given the build-up. Jedrzejczyk, who at that point would have essentially cleaned out the division with a win over the Milwaukee native, made Namajunas’ struggles with mental health a part of her pre-fight trash talk. That made it quite cathartic when Namajunas managed to storm Jedrzejczyk for a quick and dominant victory. A Namajunas win in an immediate rematch was the most consistent performance of her career, which made it a disappointment when her subsequent title defense saw her get knocked out by Jessica Andrade, yet that only added to the narrative of “Thug Rose” overcoming obstacles. She avenged the loss to Andrade, won the title back from Weili Zhang and then seemingly re-affirmed herself as an elite fighter with another win in another tough rematch. Then came the rematch against Esparza. On paper, Namajunas had evolved to a point where she could make easy work of a fighter who had beaten her eight years prior, but in practice—whether it was a newfound emphasis on defense or bad memories of Esparza’s previous wrestling success—Namajunas just did not do much of anything, losing her title via split decision in one of the worst fights in mixed martial arts history. With every loss in Namajunas’ career, there is a decent stretch of time where it is unclear exactly what comes next; in this case, it is a surprising decision to try and make a new start at 125 pounds. To that end, Namajunas finds herself immediately in the flyweight title mix, taking on a potential top contender in Fiorot.

Fiorot was a late-notice signing ahead of an early 2021 UFC debut, and the Frenchwoman immediately proved herself as a prospect to watch. It was hard to glean from her regional film, but she lived up to her “Beast” nickname as a physical force in wins over Victoria Leonardo and Tabatha Ricci. While Fiorot has not recaptured that exact level of dominance in her three fights since, she has held her own every step of the way to prove herself worthy of contention. A win over Mayra Bueno Silva continues to age well, and Fiorot’s true breakout came early in 2022 against Jennifer Maia, as she locked horns with one of the strongest women in the division and came out the other side as the more effective bully. Faced with the opposite type of matchup against a more elusive striker in Katlyn Chookagian, Fiorot acquitted herself just as well. It was not the most dynamic fight, but Fiorot walked away with the decision against an opponent who only loses to the upper crust. Even with Namajunas’ performance last time out, this remains an interesting matchup. Namajunas was sharp defensively even if she did nothing offensively, and the former strawweight champion’s speed advantage nullifies at least one part of the size-speed combination that Fiorot has been able to leverage to her best success. If this turns into a range striking match, it could wind up quite even as long as Namajunas shows up somewhere approaching peak form, but Fiorot gets the lean thanks to the possibility that she can bully “Thug Rose” in the clinch. That does not even factor in the questions surrounding Namajunas’ approach going forward. The pick is Fiorot via decision.

Jump To »
Gane vs. Spivak
Fiorot vs. Namajunas
St. Denis vs. Moises
Oezdemir vs. Guskov
Gomis vs. Ghemmouri
The Prelims