UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is defending the gold against Rose Namajunas at UFC 217 this November.
Jedrzejczyk has been taking shots at the apparent mental instability of her opponent and Namajunas says things began at a recent stare down to promote the event.
“I think she started out by saying like ‘mentally unstable’ and she said something else that … once she said that, I think I just like blanked out,” Namajunas said on The MMA Hour. “I don’t remember what she said in the middle. Then I think towards the end, as she started walking away, she said, ‘I’m gonna f*ck you up’ or something like that. I don’t know, kissed her hand. But I couldn’t make out everything, but I was kind of like in this weird trance state where I was getting a few words here and there.”
Namajunas admitted that a lot of her family members are affected by mental issues and that her father had died due to the effects of schizophrenia.
“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,” Namajunas explained at the UFC 217 conference call. “My family has been torn apart by this. My dad died and he wasn’t in my life because he had schizophrenia, so it’s been something that 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 just want to inspire other people to f*cking do whatever the f*ck you want to do, and do what makes you happy, and be a good person, and you can overcome anything.”
The women’s strawweight champion apparently didn’t care or know about her future challengers mental health battles.
Either way, that didn’t stop the champion from taking shots at Namajunas and those mental health issues she has faced.
“Hey, listen to yourself,” Jedrzejczyk said to Namajunas on the conference call. “You didn’t even want to do media. You didn’t want to do extra media. How do you want to be a champion and deal with all of these things? You know what? You are not stronger mentally. You are mentally unstable and you are broken already, and I will break you in the fight.”
UFC 217 takes place on Saturday, November 4 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Michael Bisping and Georges St. Pierre headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
