Issue 144
August 2016
Strawweight sensation Rose Namajunas came up the hard way and is destined for great things
Meet Rose Namajunas outside the confines of the gym or the chaos of fight week and she’s a sweetheart. But come face-to-face with her when it’s time to fight and you’ll find out quickly that every Rose has its thorns. Fighters Only finds out what separates the woman who strangled Invicta champ Angela Hill and beat down UFC poster girl Paige VanZant from the happy-go-lucky girl who wants to be a mixed martial arts role model.
You’ve said that MMA saved your life, but how tough was your childhood?
A I grew up around abuse. I was a victim of sexual abuse as a child. Around my neighborhood I witnessed all kinds of violence and abuse. I witnessed robberies, fights, homicides and other stuff like that. It was not the most happy part of my childhood and I became numb to it. Looking back now it has taken a toll on me. Those types of things leave and effect on you. You try to compartmentalize it at the time but later you realize the effect it had on you.
How did you manage to come back from that and build a career?
A You have to learn to turn a negative into a positive. I had every excuse on the world to be on the street doing God knows what. Martial arts was there and it was the best way for me to express myself and the best way to get relief at that time in my life. It kept me away from the negativity because I didn’t have the time to go down the wrong path. I was always training. Any time I had any problems I could get away and go practice being a ninja. MMA and martial arts in general has definitely been something that has turned my life around.
Do you feel under pressure now that you’re in the 115lb top five?
A The main thing is to not put so much pressure on myself. So many people have been telling me this for so long now. Once I stopped putting so much pressure on myself I realized it’s way more gratifying to be doing the sport and be doing what I love because I want to do it, not because I have to do it.
How do you stay so calm, but intense and focused during fight week?
A On the day of the fight I like to do a lot of meditation. I like to take a hot shower. I put the water right on me and visualize the fight going on. My vision starts to change. Once I start feeling the energy going through my body, it sounds weird, but it’s like a natural high. I pay attention to my breathing a lot. I really focus my vision. I start my meditation. I start to go into a different realm. Meditating in the shower, what more can I say, it works for me.
Are you enjoying all the attention?
A I’m trying to. My style is to speak my mind but I also want to make sure I’m coming across a certain way, too. There are certain things that can be taken out of context. For example, in the first episode of TUF (season 18), I said I liked to hurt people. I would like to put that into a better context. I’m not trying to tie someone up and stab them. That’s ridiculous. I was trying to make a point for the other girls. They were coming off with the, ‘They were just here for the competition.’ or ‘I just want to see who the best is.’
You earned your taekwondo black belt aged nine. Did you think you were a badass then?
A (Laughs) to be honest, the whole concept of belts in general has gotten watered down a bit over the years. You definitely earn the belt but that shouldn’t mean you walk around thinking you can kick everybody’s ass, especially as a nine-year-old.
Do you get a kick out of hurting people?
A Truthfully, for me personally, I can’t say I don’t get some type of pleasure when my glove touches another persons face. You can’t be a prizefighter and not enjoy it. The end goal is to finish the fight. A lot of people have this mentality that they’re a martial artist and only practice self-defense. That’s cool if you’re not a fighter. If you have that mentality in a fight you’re not going to finish fights.
Does that mentality go against your position as a role model?
A This is the fight business. You have to go in there with a killer instinct to hurt the other person. If you have the mentality that you’re going in there to do just enough to win then that’s when you have fights that go the distance. It’s tough to be a role model but I am learning how to carry myself better, stay true to myself and speak my mind – but do it in a positive light.
Stop & smell the Roses
Q Do you prefer a KO or submission?
A A knockout. With a submission they are consciously choosing to quit. When you knock them out you are taking that choice out of their hands.
Q What have been your best moments outside the Octagon?
A Hearing compliments from Ronda Rousey and the guys on Joe Rogan’s podcast was cool. I’m not that cool. To see myself on a commercial, to see myself on a huge billboard – those things are amazing. There have been endless ‘oh s**t’ moments.
Q Who are your favorite fighters to watch?
A Anderson Silva is totally inspiring. Watching his old fights really fires me up to train. I was so disappointed when his fight with Uriah Hall fell through. Uriah is someone I really like also. That would have been an awesome contest. Watching Uriah compete with the broken toe and still kicking with it was like, ‘What the f**k?’
Hitting the right note
Q What hobbies do you enjoy away from the Octagon?
A People may know this but I have been playing jazz piano and classical piano for as long as I have been doing martial arts.
...
