Namajunas, 33, has fought five times since moving up to the flyweight division in 2023, defeating Tracy Cortez, Amanda Ribas and, most recently, Miranda Maverick in June. To begin her 2026 campaign, Namajunas faces the division’s No. 2 contender, Natalia Silva, this weekend. Appearing Tuesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Namajunas revealed that UFC officials told her a win would earn her a title shot, which means a fight against her good friend, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
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“It would be weird, but I mean, we’re martial artists,” Namajunas told Uncrowned. “I would love to have a conversation about this and talk to her first and everything. She’s someone who inspired me and who I’ve admired. It would definitely be conflicting emotions, but at the same time, I’m willing to do it. I also understand if there would be hesitation or if it would be a little strange.”
The thought of a fight with Shevchenko has floated around Namajunas’ mind since he first gained strength at 125 pounds. For a brief period, she didn’t have to worry about the two meeting in the Octagon, thanks to Alexa Grasso’s momentary title run. But Shevchenko finally won the belt back from Grasso in 2024, and now the potential collision between friends seems closer than ever.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but honestly, as a fan of hers, she’s literally my favorite fighter, really,” Namajunas said of the 37-year-old Shevchenko. “So it would be very strange because obviously I would never want to see her lose, but then I would have to go to a fight and try to beat her. Then at the same time, as a martial artist, it would be the ultimate culmination of being able to test myself, because her and Amanda Nunes are the best fighters in MMA (ever).
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“It would just be a dream come true, but at the same time, it would definitely be like, ‘Ah!’ That’s what it means to fight: it’s strange. I don’t hate anyone I fight. I fought people like Tecia Torres: we trained together, then we fought, then we trained together and then we fought (again). I have done it before. I don’t have to hate anyone to compete.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to say, ‘We’re going to have sleepovers and then be best friends,’ or something like that,” Namajunas added. “I love all my opponents, even those with whom I may have been rivals. Afterwards it’s a thing of the past, it’s nothing.”
Namajunas was initially scheduled to face Grasso at UFC 324 before the Mexican contender withdrew due to injury, allowing Silva to step in as a late replacement. However, a fight against either woman would not have been easy for Namajunas, and the odds reflected that: “Thug Rose” was placed as the betting underdog on both pairings. Grasso opened as a heavy -400 favorite to beat Namajunas on BetMGM lines; Against Silva, Namajunas’ margin has only widened, with Silva currently listed as a -450 favorite.
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Regarding the difficulty of the matchups, Namajunas agrees with the moneyline view, however, that is also why she is happier with the current matchup on Saturday than the previous one.
“Stylistically, I think Natalia has a more difficult style to deal with than someone like Alexa,” Namajunas said. “The toughness that Alexa would have brought, just her mental toughness and how she doesn’t seem to change no matter what’s happening in the fight, would have posed a different challenge than Natalia.
“So I’m definitely happier with the change, because I feel like I’m getting closer to my goal faster with Natalia, as opposed to Alexa. Even with a dominant performance against Alexa, I don’t know where that would leave me in the mix (for a title shot)…. Natalia definitely brings more challenges than Alexa.”
Still young despite his 13-year professional MMA career, Namajunas has accomplished almost everything he needs to at this point. Her two UFC title reigns at strawweight left her etched in the history books, and while a third at 115 pounds would have been impressive, she’s happy to stay at flyweight.
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Even with her friend commanding the throne, the hardware Shevchenko has is all the motivation Namajunas needs to keep going.
“I’m not at a stage where I can’t do anything for the rest of my life,” Namajunas said. “So finances are still a factor, but it’s not the main motivating factor. If anything, I’m fine with where I wanted to be financially, as far as what I wanted to get out of the fight. In some ways I’ve accomplished most of what I wanted to do.
“But basically, it’s the two divisions (champion status); to have that as an accomplishment would be a dream come true. It’s on the list of when I had goals to achieve in MMA, that was one of the goals I had.”