Rose Namajunas has been promised a UFC flyweight title shot with a win at UFC 324, but the prospect of fighting her idol Valentina Shevchenko comes with mixed feelings for the former two-time strawweight champion.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Namajunas confirmed the UFC has told her a victory over Natalia Silva on January 24, 2026, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will earn her the next crack at Shevchenko's flyweight title. The announcement puts significant weight on her main card bout against Silva, who enters the fight riding a 13-fight winning streak and holding a perfect 7-0 record in the UFC.
Rose Namajunas Faces Complex Emotions Ahead of Potential Valentina Shevchenko Title Fight
For Namajunas, the path to becoming a two-division champion leads through a fighter she considers the greatest in women's mixed martial arts.
"It would be weird," Namajunas said when asked about facing Shevchenko. "We're martial artists, so at the end of the day I'm down to do it, but I'd love to have a conversation with her first because she's somebody that inspired me and I've looked up to."
The two fighters have trained together in the past, with sparring footage showing their technical exchanges during camp preparations.
"She's literally my favorite female fighter," Namajunas explained. "It would definitely be conflicting emotions, I would never want to see her lose, but I'd have to go into a fight and try to beat her."
Namajunas described the potential matchup as both a dream scenario and an emotional challenge. She ranks Shevchenko alongside Amanda Nunes as the greatest female fighters in MMA history.
"At the same time, as a martial artist, it would be the ultimate culmination of being able to test myself," she said. "I feel like she and Amanda Nunes are the greatest female fighters in MMA. So it would be a dream come true, but also like, 'Oh…'"
The 33-year-old Milwaukee native emphasized that personal animosity plays no role in her approach to competition. "That's kind of what fighting is, it's weird," Namajunas said. "I don't hate anybody I fight. I've fought people I train with, then we train again after. I don't have to hate anyone to compete with them. I love all of my opponents, even the ones I was rivals with, afterward it's just water under the bridge."
Namajunas currently holds a 14-7 UFC record and is ranked sixth in the flyweight division. After losing her strawweight title to Carla Esparza in May 2022, she moved up to 125 pounds and has gone 2-2 in the division, with losses to Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield. Her flyweight record includes wins over Amanda Ribas and Miranda Maverick.
The two-division championship goal has driven Namajunas throughout her flyweight campaign. "Basically, it's the two-division thing, to just have that as an accomplishment," she told Helwani. "It be a dream come true and it's definitely on the list of what I wanted to achieve in MMA." A victory over Shevchenko would make Namajunas only the second woman in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions, following in the footsteps of Nunes.
UFC 324
Before any of those plans materialize, Namajunas must overcome Silva, who has defeated former champions Jessica Andrade and Alexa Grasso without dropping a round in either fight. Silva was originally slated to face Grasso before the former champion withdrew due to injury in December, opening the door for Namajunas to step in.
UFC 324 marks the promotion's first event under its new seven-year broadcast agreement with Paramount+, eliminating the pay-per-view model. The main event features Justin Gaethje defending the interim lightweight title against Paddy Pimblett.