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Rose Namajunas hasn’t had much to say about one of the most infamous incidents in combat sports history – until now.
The then UFC strawweight champion was scheduled to defend her title in a rematch against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 223 on April 7, 2018 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Two days before the event, however, Conor McGregor – enraged UFC stripped him of the lightweight title and would award the belt to the winner of what was originally to be a main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson – arrived from Ireland with a gang in revenge for the perceived slight.
McGregor and his crew attacked a bus carrying Nurmagomedov and several other UFC 223 media day fighters. Namajunas was among those caught in the crossfire. And in a new UFC series titled “UFC Year of the Fighter: Rose Namajunas,” she explained how scary it was and how badly she almost hurt herself.
“It was like forever being on that bus, because I had no idea who it was attacking us,” Namajunas said. “Suddenly I see a big punch on my window, then I see one of the security guards grabbing one of the guys. I didn’t know it was Conor until a little later. When he threw the cart, the bus was backing up in the elevator as he threw it out the window right in front of me. But if the bus hadn’t moved, it would have hit my window.
The incident was traumatic for Namajunas not only because she narrowly escaped serious injuries, but it brought back childhood memories that she thought she had long left behind.
“In my head, once I found out it was Conor, I was a little relieved, but I was still on edge,” Namajunas said. “It just took me back to when I was a kid, riding to school through the bad neighborhoods on a bus and people throwing (cursing) on our bus. And I’ve never been completely cornered like this. We were just sitting there without control. So what did I do at that time? I repeated the Lord’s Prayer and it made me feel a little better at that time, and it got me through this difficult time.
“And everything that was from my childhood is what I fought to get out of, and it’s like going back to a stupid street (expletive). I don’t want to be there anymore. This is what I fought for.
Despite being shaken up, Namajunas managed to channel the negativity into another standout performance in the octagon, as she wanted to fight her way to victory two nights later over one of the biggest female contenders. of all time in Jedrzejczyk.
“I came back around that, like, that’s also what I’m here for,” Namajunas said. “So I took that as a motivation to show the world that it won’t stop me.”
For more on Namajunas, including his thoughts on the fight itself, watch the video above.
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