Namajunes Wants To Inspire People With UFC 217 Win

UFC women’s strawweight title challenger Rose Namajunas in Wednesday’s UFC 217 conference call spoke honestly about her intentions on November 4th.

“I just want to try and make this world a better place and use my gift of (expletive) martial arts… “I’m great at this (expletive). This is what I’ve been born to do.

“I might be crazy, but I’m dangerous, too.”

Namajuna has had to deal with verbal barbs coming from current UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who during a pre-fight staredown for the event, called Namajunas “mentally unstable.”

During the same conference call on Wednesday, Jedrzejczyk following Namajunas, a sexual abuse survivor, spoke of overcoming personal demons and her desire to use her title shot to promote mental health, Jedrzejczyk pounced.

“You didn’t want to do extra media – how are you going to be a champion and deal with all of those things? You know what? You’re not stronger mentally,” she said. “You are mentally unstable, and you are broken already, and I will break you in the fight.”

Namajunas refused to engage Jedrzejczyk in the kind of personal back and forth.

Asked if she is hesitant to fire back at Jedrzejczyk, Namajunas admits the Jedrzejczyk unearthed deeply personal issues into the fight. And yet, there’s a higher purpose keeping her from making it about the bad blood between them.

“I’m not sure if it’s maybe a cultural difference or something like that, but for me, it’s not something that’s taken lightly,” she said of the”mentally unstable” talk. “My family has been torn apart. My dad died – and he wasn’t in my life – because he had schizophrenia. It’s been something my entire family has been fighting against since I can remember.

“So this fight means a lot to me, and it’s not just about the belt. It’s more than that, and I want to inspire people to (expletive) do whatever the (expletive) you want to do and do what makes you happy. You can overcome anything.”

“Whatever she’s saying, that’s fine. But for me, it’s all about me. It’s all about conquering my demons, and that’s what’s important.”