Rose Namajunas is finally opening up about her anxiety-inducing experiences as a bus passenger on the night that Conor McGregor hurled a dolly through the bus window.
McGregor and his crew were on the hunt for rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. Namajunas and a host of fighters were nearly harmed — or in the case of a select few — actually harmed after the dolly sent glass shattering through the bus.
The view from inside the bus of Conor McGregor throwing a dolly and injuring Michael Chiesa. pic.twitter.com/vm1thw0rOV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 7, 2018
"It was like an eternity being in that bus," the former UFC strawweight champion says in UFC's "Year of the Fighter" series (h/t MMA Junkie). "I had no idea who that was attacking us."
It wasn't until later that Namajunas found out the attack was committed by McGregor and company.
"I didn't know it was Conor until a little bit later," she continued. "When he threw the dolly, the bus was backing up into the elevator spot as he threw it to the window right in front of me. But had the bus not been moving, it would have hit my window."
The "Notorious" was on the hunt for Nurmagomedov after "The Eagle" confronted McGregor's teammate and friend Artem Lobov during UFC 223 fight week. McGregor and his posse boarded a private plane from Ireland to New York to confront Nurmagomedov. Fellow UFC fighters Ray Borg and Michael Chiesa were injured in the incident. McGregor was arrested for his role in the incident and eventually plead guilty.
Namajunas said the incident conjured memories of childhood trauma.
"In my head, once I found out it was Conor, I was a little relieved, but I was still on edge," she spoke candidly. "It just took me back to when I was a kid, riding to school through bad neighborhoods and people throwing shit at our bus."
"We were just sitting there not in control, so what did I do in that moment? I said the Lord's prayer again and then it actually did make me feel a little bit better at that moment, and it got me through that tough moment," Namajunas reflects.
Fightful has all of your MMA needs covered. Follow us on Twitter for updates, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive interviews, lists, news updates and predictions.
