Rose Namajunas opens up about her title-losing performance against Carla Esparza: “I am an artist… You don’t always have a Mona Lisa”
‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas will soon be having a documentary about her journey being released on UFC Fight Pass. During an interview with MMA Junkie, the former UFC championship discussed her documentary being released and losing her world title. ‘Cookie Monster’ Carla Esparza took the world title from Rose, while both fighters received a chorus of boos from the audience.
While speaking to Mike Bohn, Rose Namajunas discussed her UFC title loss to Esparza. She said:
“I definitely got what I needed out of that fight. I know that for the fans it was terrible. And I definitely pride myself on being a very exciting fighter and I’ve always had exciting fights. But I realized that being a mixed martial artist, I am an artist. And, you know, you don’t always have a Mona Lisa, right, sometimes you just have like splotches and you know abstract art pieces.”
Rose Namajunas also fully understands the fans being dissatisfied with this fight. She continued:
As much as it might have sucked for the fans, for myself I got the bare minimum I needed out of whatever personal things that I was looking for … Going forward I feel pretty at peace with that. I mean definitely, you know, being a martial artist and a competitor that definitely has a little fire inside I still can be a little salty sometimes when I think about it. But it’s like, I’ve been through this before I’ve been here and I know that’s just it’s what I needed so I’m fully grateful for everything.”
See the full interview with Rose Namajunas below:
Rose Namajunas looking beyond the championship title
In this interview, Namajunas discussed how challenging it was to win the UFC world title and then stay motivated as winning the gold was the goal. It takes a shift in attitude to challenge one’s self rather than climb the ladder. ‘Thug’ Rose explained:
“Becoming the champion it’s like this goal that I had in mind and you get the title, being a champion or whatever but it really doesn’t stop. It’s just like a mindset, it’s a mentality. And I realized that you’re always chasing after greatness, like being the best version of yourself.”
Rose Namajunas added that it’s not about the others in her weight division, it’s just about challenging herself. The former champion Namajunas continued:
“Most of the time if I am my best self, I am actually better than the rest of my competition. But that’s not what it’s about. it’s all about putting your best foot forward.”
