Rose Namajunas’ old look: Why did the strawweight fighter shave her head?
Matthew Sanders
Updated on March 31, 2026
Former UFC women’s strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas has been inactive since her defeat to the current champion, Carla Esparza at UFC 274 last year. However, the former champion’s UFC journey has been full of up and downs. The once long-haired blonde’s transformation into a shaven head savage inside the octagon was fueled by coach Trevor Wittman.
Since joining the UFC in 2014, Rose Namajunas (12-5) was seen as a scary prospect for the strawweight title. However, her inconsistency as a fighter is what changed the course of her appearance after the fighter decided to shave her head and focus more on her fighting career than on her looks.
“Just years and years of playing in sports, not just fighting, hair’s been growing up and being a tomboy growing up and not really wanting to have to do my hair. I don’t even know how to do [my hair]. I just had to put a whole bunch of products in it. I just want to be able to wake up in the morning and feel pretty and not have to do a whole bunch of cr*p [to my hair]. It is definitely like shedding my past, being psychologically mean to my hair as well as physically, and just ripping it out,” Namajunas revealed the reason behind her cropped look.
Rose Namajunas later joined Colorado-based champion maker, Trevor Wittman, one of the most accomplished MMA coaches in Northern America who has trained Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje, TJ Dillashaw, and George St. Pierre among others. Thug Rose became the women’s strawweight champion in 2021 after scoring a first-round knockout over Chinese MMA fighter, Zhang Weili at UFC 261: Usman vs Masvidal II.
‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas’ UFC career and the road to Strawweight championship
Thug Rose Namajunas has been fighting in the UFC since 2014 and reached her prime in 2017 after a series of successive wins over Joanna Jędrzejczyk(2x), and Jessica Andrade to put her among top prospects for the strawweight title.
The former champion was yet to showcase herself at the most elite level when she was scheduled to fight Zhang Weili, the then-strawweight champion from China. During that time, Zhang Weili was undefeated in the UFC and was the first Chinese UFC champion ever.
An underdog in the fight, Rose’s chances were viewed as narrow with the Chinese competitor. But the most unexpected turn of events left fans in shock when Namajunas dropped Zhang Weili unconscious after landing a vicious front high kick to Weili’s face. Thereby, scoring a knockout and becoming the undisputed UFC women’s strawweight champion at UFC 261 in 2021.
Namajunas went on to successfully defend her title against Zhang Weili in a rematch at UFC 268: Usman vs Covington II. Later, Namajunas was scheduled to defend her title against Carla Esparza at UFC 274 which resulted in a loss to Esparza via decision. ‘Thug’ is yet to return to the octagon since her loss.
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