November 4, 2017, is a day Rose Namajunas will never forget when she needed a little over three minutes to stop long-reigning champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk to capture the women's strawweight title at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden.
Things were looking up for Namajunas after beating Jędrzejczyk in the rematch at UFC 223. "Thug Rose" was on her way to becoming the top female marquee attraction in the UFC. But Namajunas wasn't mentally in the right place, and it showed when she lost the belt to Jessica Andrade at UFC 237.
Namajunas took much-needed time away from the sport to give her time to breathe. She didn't return for 14 months and avenged the loss to Andrade at UFC 251 to earn the opportunity to regain the title. The 29-year-old did just that, knocking out Weili Zhang in 78 seconds to become a two-time women's strawweight titlist.
Now, she returns to the scene of her greatest triumph when she meets Zhang again on Saturday at UFC 268.
Ahead of UFC 268, Namajunas talked with DAZN News about returning to MSG and why Zhang's rematch makes sense.
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
DAZN: You sound perked up, and you're ready to go for UFC 268. It seems like you would be ready to fight right now.
Rose Namajunas: Oh yeah, I've been ready to fight for a while now. I've been in training camp for 22 weeks already. I'm ready to go. So I'm looking forward to competing, performing, and doing my best.
DAZN: Do you take a week off here and there, or is it continuous?
RN: Yeah. I do it almost every training camp. I used to have a lot shorter training camps. Earlier in my career, and even then, I would still take a week off about a month before my fight. But this time, there were a couple of instances where I had to just take a break. There are times where it's wise to take a break so you don’t pull a muscle or something because there's a lot of stuff that can happen.
DAZN: You have discussed everything that happened when you lost the belt at UFC 237 in May 2019 and the issues you were dealing with at that point in your life. But do you feel like with hindsight being 20/20, do you feel like it was the best thing for you because now, like you said, you've adopted that martial arts mentality to maybe to where before, perhaps that wasn't the case?
RN: Absolutely. My life was going in one direction. I was just floating around. I didn't really have true confidence in myself. There were so many beneficial things that happened from that loss. It's just what needed to happen. I forgot who said this, but it's like you either learn through suffering, or you learn through revelation. And that was just learning through suffering. I had to suffer. Obviously, I would prefer to learn the lessons I need to learn through foresight and wisdom, and proper revelation, and not having to suffer. But ultimately, sometimes, those things have to happen.
DAZN: Madison Square Garden has brought you great luck. It’s where you first won the belt at UFC 217 and put yourself on the map. When you think about Madison Square Garden, what kind of feelings does that conjure up for you?
RN: Oh man. I instantly get visuals of being in the arena and winning the belt for the first time. I get visuals of actually around this time of the year to it was like November 4, 2017. I could just see visuals of me being there. But they're good feelings. It was definitely spooky at the time. Now, where I'm just like a fight is the fight. It's scary, but it's what I love to do because it is two completely different people from where you were then to what you were from four years ago to right now.
I think it's all perspective. At that time, that was the best place I've ever been in my life at that point. It's all about growth. I've definitely made some huge leaps and bounds. I'm really blessed to be living this spider life though. It's taught me so much about myself, about people and humanity. It's weird because it seems ironic because we're going in there, and it's a violent sport. We're trying to hurt the other person or to protect yourself at all times. But it's really put a huge perspective on my life each step of the way. I keep learning. I don't know,
DAZN: When this fight was announced to me, it felt like the fight didn't make much sense because of how quickly you won the fight. Usually, the UFC doesn't go there and make immediate rematches like that. So did it surprise you that the UFC approached you with this fight instead of a fight with Carla Esparza?
RN: At first, I was surprised. But then, when you really want to think about it, the UFC knows what they're doing. They're all about entertainment and selling fights. Obviously, that's the fight that I think more fans want to see. The more hardcore fans probably would rather see me fight Carla Esparza. I've always wanted to rematch her ever since I've fought her and lost to her the first time. So I would love to be able to avenge that loss, like my other losses. That was an initial bummer. But when I step outside of myself, and when I really think about it, I still feel as though Weili, regardless of how the first fight went, she's still the most dangerous fight that I could have and the most dangerous opponent that I could prepare for. So I got to fight her again. At the end of the day, I just have to be ready for November 6, and whoever's there is there because opponents do change, and things do change. I have to be ready for anything, so I just have to be ready for anybody.
DAZN: Do you expect a firefight like the first fight, or do you expect her to be more tactical?
RN: I don't know. I think expectations. I try not to have too many expectations, but I try to just be prepared. The biggest thing I got to be prepared for is a firefight. I think it’s the safest thing to be prepared for. If she tries to be technical, well, I'm the most technical there is. It's all about just controlling my emotions, the fan discipline, and regardless of what she comes with, I'll be ready for that, and she'll have to deal with me.