Namajunas says she’s losing respect as former champ Jedrzejczyk refuses to acknowledge reality.
UFC strawweight champ Rose Namajunas is taking some time off, partially to let a compression fracture in her neck heal, and partially to let the 115 pound division shake out some new contenders. As far as Rose is concerned, that’s just as essential of a process as the healing, because there isn’t a lot of clear cut challengers since she dethroned Joanna Jedrzejczyk and beat her in the rematch.
Jedrzejczyk is still talking like she’s the best, but the only way that affects Namajunas is in her opinion of the former strawweight champ.
“It don’t really bother me,” Namajunas told MMA Fighting. “I know at this point it just kind of sounds silly. The more she talks, the more she just makes herself sound stupid.”
”For me, I like to just try and be positive about everything as much as possible. Of course, you can get dragged into silly shit. I just remind myself that she was a great champion. I looked up to her at one point in my life for a reason and I just try and remember what she did for the sport and just kind of leave it at that. She was a great champion, but now it’s my time. And eventually she’s gotta come to terms with that and be OK with it.”
“I don’t know what she’s thinking, really,” Namajunas continued later. “But I know what she’s saying and she’s saying I’m scared of this or that. I think all that’s really showing is she don’t want to fight the best. She don’t want to fight me, when she knows I’m the best. She wants me to try and lose to somebody else or something, so she can challenge them or something. But she don’t really want to beat the best — and that’s me.”
“Regardless of whatever she wants, whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen and I’m gonna still keep living my life and just remember that she was a great champion. She was a great champion.”
Namajunas has gone so far as to say she’d give Joanna a third fight … if she admits who the best strawweight in the world really is. Since that’s not all that likey, she’s now looking forward to the Jessica Andrade vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz fight at UFC 228 in the hopes that it will give her an opponent for the end of the year.