Rose Namajunas has undergone eye surgery and received medical clearance to return to training three months after her fight at UFC 324. The former strawweight champion (14-8, 12-7 UFC) suffered an eye injury from a finger poke during her bout with Natalia Silva. Namajunas posted an update stating both her thumb and eye have fully recovered, though she's slightly out of shape. She called for stricter penalties for eye pokes, even accidental ones, suggesting immediate point deductions regardless of intent. Namajunas expressed relief that the injury wasn't worse and emphasized that such "accidents" can have serious long-term health consequences for fighters.
Rose Namajunas has been medically cleared to return to training approximately three months after suffering an eye injury during her bout with Natalia Silva at UFC 324, the former strawweight champion confirmed in a public update.
Namajunas, 34, competes in the women's flyweight division and is currently ranked sixth in the world. The Milwaukee-born fighter holds a professional record of 15-8, with the bulk of her career spent inside the UFC octagon. Known for her technical striking and well-rounded game, she averages 3.5 significant strikes per minute with a 41 percent accuracy rate, and also contributes on the ground with 1.47 takedowns per 15 minutes. In her update, she noted that both her eye and thumb have fully recovered, though she acknowledged being slightly out of shape after the extended layoff.
Silva, ranked fifth in the women's flyweight division, is a 29-year-old southpaw from Brazil training out of Team Borracha. She carries a record of 20-5-1 and is among the more active strikers in the division, landing 4.81 significant strikes per minute at 45 percent accuracy. The finger poke that injured Namajunas occurred during their UFC 324 contest.
Beyond her recovery update, Namajunas used the announcement to call for stricter officiating around eye pokes. She argued that immediate point deductions should be applied regardless of whether the foul was intentional, emphasizing that so-called accidental contact can still produce serious, lasting health consequences for fighters.
Why it matters
- Namajunas returns to a crowded flyweight division where she sits just one spot below her former opponent Silva in the rankings
- A healthy Namajunas back in the top-six keeps divisional title contention competitive at 125 pounds
- Her public push for automatic point deductions on eye pokes adds a prominent fighter's voice to an ongoing debate about foul enforcement in MMA
