UFC fighter Rose Namajunas steps into the ring to protect Colorado off-leash dog park

It's on the mat where 31-year-old Rose Namajunas is putting up a fight ahead of her first-time headlining fight night in Denver.

"I became a champion; I was 25 years old. Defended it. Lost it. Got it back again. Defended it and lost it again," Namajunas said. "But, you know, that's the fight game, ups and downs."

Despite the ups and downs of being in the ring, Namajunas has found peace and comfort living near Westminster Hills Open Space in the western part of the Denver metro area.

"Just trying to be outdoors as much as possible," Namajunas said. "I moved here into this neighborhood for this dog park."

It's inside Westminster Hills Open Space were Namajunas takes her two dogs, Mishka and Roscoe, to let loose, literally. Yet it is also a place where she is often training and taking the time to relax before big matches.

"I've solved a lot of problems here basically," she said. "If you're like a close fan of mine and watched a lot of my countdown shows for a lot of UFC events, you've probably seen this dog park in a majority of my shadow boxing clips for the buildup to a lot of my fights."

Now, as she prepares for her fight this July, Namajunas is also battling alongside fellow Westminster residents in a fight to protect the park from losing its existing off-leash area.

"I just feel like physically and mentally, it's really great for the community, and I just feel like the dogs are a lot happier once they can just be dogs and not just be always on a leash," Namajunas said. "A lot of the time, it's a great way to walk with our teammates and the trainers, and we discuss a lot of the psychology behind the fighting."

While Westminster city leaders have been in discussions about what steps to take to preserve the land from overuse, Namajunas continues to advocate for the 420 acres of off leash access alongside fellow neighbors and visitors who use the park.

"I think my platform and me getting it out there, there's people from out of state that have paid attention to this," Namajunas said. "We've made a lot of progress. [So] many more passionate people that are fighting so hard for this."

During Monday night's study session in which council leaders heard four different proposals from the community on how to keep the park intact to off-leash use, a majority of council members expressed their support for maintaining the existing off-leash area. However, they wanted to see certain parameters to control the foot traffic of those who use the park, including fees for out-of-town visitors.

An upcoming council meeting to continue discussions about the open space is scheduled for June 24.