Rose Namajunas has accomplished nearly everything over the course of her career in MMA ... and while she still has eyes on getting back her championship belt -- she tells TMZ Sports she wouldn't mind stepping out of the Octagon and into the boxing ring one day!
We caught up with the fifth-ranked UFC flyweight ahead of her upcoming bout against third-ranked Erin Blanchfield ... and while she is not sleeping on EB -- who is known for her grappling -- Rose believes she is overall the better fighter.
"I feel I'm superior in all areas of MMA," Rose said. "Especially being able to mix it all up, that's what I do best. I'm really looking forward to the challenge. I know she's a tough opponent, so I'm very prepared."
While she's laser-focused on her day job, Rose admitted she's taken other combat sports into consideration.
"I've always enjoyed boxing a lot," she said. "That's something I've been looking at."
Thug Rose even picked up a new follower on Instagram recently ... the current undisputed and lineal lightweight boxing champion of the world, Katie Taylor!
"I was like kind of looking at her a little bit," she said. "It's kind of cool. I was like, 'Maybe it'd be cool to fight her one day!'"
Namajunas vs. Taylor, the next MMA/boxing crossover ... maybe!