MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Rose Namajunas Explains Why The Time Is Now For Flyweight Reinvention | Morning Kombat Interview

Episode Date: August 31, 2023

Brian Campbell sits down with Rose Namajunas ahead of her fight with Manon Fiorot. When did Rose decide she wanted to move to flyweight? Did the UFC want to do the Weili Zhang trilogy? How does she expect her game to transfer to flyweight? Rose discusses it all. (00:00:05) - Paris (00:01:00) - Move to Flyweight (00:02:50) - Weili Zhang Trilogy (00:06:30) - Reinventing Herself (00:09:00) - Manon Fiorot (00:10:00) - Flyweight division (00:13:30) - Hobbies Morning Kombat is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts.     For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing the new McSpicy from McDonald's. It looks like a regular chicken sandwich, but it's actually a spicy chicken sandwich. McSpicy. Consider yourself warned. Limited time only at participating McDonald's in Canada. Oh yeah, Thug Rose, she's back with a bang. 125 pounds, UFC Paris this Saturday. Manon Thoreau, Thug Rose, are you on the ground in France? You got to give me a report.

How is it? It's great, man. We checked out the Eiffel Tower. We went to the museum. We did some scouting around. So are you able to, can you, like, pause the mental preparation of a fight and almost enjoy a mini vacation when you're out there on the road like this no no i'm just kidding it's uh it i know everybody's like oh you get to travel the world but it's like dude i've seen a lot of hotel rooms

in many different places but um yeah it's hard to like um actually go sightsee but this time it was nice because we got here early so and and you know there was just a lot of time on our hands so so i was actually really happy to be able to do that but i mean the whole time you're you're thinking about fighting somebody yeah and yeah no doubt about it this is a different fight rose this is a move up in weight fighting one of the best in this this red hot division so you got to take me back to the beginning how long had you been thinking about this flyweight reinvention and and how did it actually take shape to get this fight against minnell i guess originally i got the idea when i you know wrote like this is early

on in my career when i wrote down you know goals for myself like become the champion do this buy a house you know blah blah blah um and then like on the last of my goal list was to become two division champion um and so yeah I I didn't really know how in my mind even though I made that as a goal and I wrote it down I was kind of like question mark you know what I mean like because I'm like I don't know you know I mean that's so that was that was so long ago and I didn't know what you know this whole journey was gonna look like getting to this point but um here we are and um yeah and then I think during my second title reign as I started to get a little heavier and um and as I started to like uh really like accomplish some things in my life and stuff

and with the career that it was like kind of all right this this could potentially be you know on the horizon but um there's also a lot of different factors you know there was there's also times where it was like you know there's times where it's like do i still want to do this you know it's like of course i do you know i mean back and forth right so um but uh yeah after that last fight it was like i think that's the move because uh it was just like kind of a perfect storm of like you know uh me getting bigger and then kind of like this is sort of the last thing that i kind of want to do i mean i assumed you'd be fighting way lee in this trilogy to decide the greatest 115 pound fighter of all time was that ever even

a topic of discussion or was since that as far as a rematch was it really about let's try this new path um yeah no i i know that i'm better than whaley you know as a as a fighter i mean obviously what she i think she she has potential to to achieve um many may let's say i don't know about greater things but as far as like just different things i think her whole career can take another path and i think she's reached another level that um is pretty impressive and i and i think she just keeps getting better so you know i'm happy for her trajectory and i think i hope she keeps doing well um but as far as like i know from my personal self like

maybe to prove it to the world maybe there's gonna be people that are always gonna be like oh no she did this and rose you know what I mean like whatever um but to me as a martial artist I know that I got her number and and if uh if we ever were to face again um maybe it might be at 125 we'll see but you. But I don't know. I hope she keeps doing well, though. But I forgot what the question was. I don't know if I answered that. It was just about, I assume that would be the direction the promotion might go.

And then this was a surprise to me as a fan and journalist to see this aggressive, daring to be great kind of move. I mean, Rose, you, this is the kind of move that fans love the idea of just, you know what? I could go back to the title picture here. I could do this, but why not this direction? Why not dare to be great? I've heard you say in, in, in interviews that it was the idea that this scares you, that you love that, that, that it could, you know, bring out a deeper level of motivation what scares you about this this task of moving up in weight and taking on somebody who's

five and oh since making her UFC debut yeah I mean just just more weight behind like the person is always gonna just means you know uh it just means you gotta be on your p's and q's even more you know what i mean like obviously uh yeah i think it's just it's just always looked at as uh moving up the weight is always looked at as as being um an extra challenge because it forces you to be a better martial artist you know i mean like it's not just like uh i have to make sure that I'm I'm using I'm good on all areas like I'm I'm strong I'm fit but I'm also good technique and and and good strategy as well so I think it just it just requires a little bit more out of you in order to move up in weight and so so yeah I think, I think that that's pretty much it, you know? Well, look, weight cuts at the, at the title level of the championship level are never

easy. So how much of a relief is fighting 10 pounds higher? How much could that change the, the energy, the explosiveness, all that comes into, you know, building the mind and body for the big fight. Yeah, I'm definitely stronger and i even think you know on a certain level i'm faster too um and you know my timing is better um i'm healthier um yeah and just just knowing that i'm probably not gonna go through the like skeletor like i sunk in in phase or it's just like dude that can't be good for your health

man like long term like regardless of the fight like this is like for me it's like i look at all of this is like a marathon like um so it's just like making sure that i'm as healthy as possible when all is said and done you know what i mean like that's really what matters well rose you've been a master at reinvention in this game anytime we think you you know have a rough night or your career may be going this way it goes back the other way in dramatic inspiring you know i'm the mother effing greatest type of way thug rose thug rose you've had some of the most incredible inspiring moments ever yeah i i gotta be confident that okay the esparza fight yeah i'm sure you're getting asked about it it was different it was weird is this birthing another rose takeover 3.0 4.0 whatever

you want to say because you've got that special power of just being able to turn off the past and start fresh i hope so you know what i mean like definitely yeah it's all about just being honest with yourself and yeah that definitely wasn't that wasn't my that was probably my worst performance and you know it sucks like um so yeah but but it's all about just being honest with that and like just taking the right steps forward and and you know having faith in my creator that you know he's he's got my back and that i could just like you know what i mean make the right decisions going forward and and uh and with i guess that's that's really all i guess all i can do i mean it's a great example yeah do you feel i

mean your your documentary was incredible and it was open and real and raw and and honest and that's you know, certainly something I think is lacking at the highest level. A lot of times in sports, people just being honest about their, their missteps or their fears. How much have you received an impact that, you know, people look at you as that figure as, as somebody that like, I can learn life lessons from through this competition. Yeah, I think it's like a huge learning lesson. That's what I do this for. That's why it's like, you know, that's why if it was just about,

like, I think it just, yeah, a lot of other athletes kind of make it about their ego. And of course, I got an ego, too. You know, it feels good to say you're the champ and you're the best and blah, blah, blah. But it's like, okay, what can I learn from this? How, how can I use this to, to, um, to change the world around me, to, to influence other people around me, to, to make myself better. You know what I mean? Like that, that's, that's what it's all about. And, um, yeah, so I'm, I'm hoping that the documentary, like people see it and people kind of get that from that. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Very good stuff. And I appreciate you doing that.

When we look at this matchup higher up in weight against Faroe, who's very good on the feet. We know what she does best. How much do you look at her, though, and say, OK, she's great here, but I can get her in these other areas. You know, how do you think you match up with her i know i think i match up really well with her honestly like um but at the same time i also think she poses a lot of you know things that i gotta make sure i'm i'm i'm on my game for and like um so so that's what makes it exciting because it's like i'm confident that i can do it um it's just a matter of like saying, you know, composed and believing in the work that I've put in.

And you know what I mean? Having faith that, you know, what will be is, you know, what's supposed to happen. And also just having faith in my talent, my abilities. So yeah, I think I do see some things that I will capitalize on and and uh that will be in my favor for sure what do you make of this division your new division at large you know uh i think i think we can say it's it's it's made it's had a facelift it yeah i feel like we didn't

a year ago we weren't talking about numbers you know one through ten in the rankings and now we're trying to figure out who's coming there's a lot of people that feel like they're next how do you how do you feel yeah it's really settling in i think yeah there's definitely lots of interesting movements going on and i mean i've definitely paid attention to it like more um even like i think gradually even before making this decision to like move up um but but now you have some really good um interesting uh names that are that are that are working their way up and you know obviously like um yeah so with alexa grasso being a new champ and then she's got that coming up and then erin blanchfield uh she just had a really um impressive performance and then I mean, I know there's a bunch of others,

but you know what I mean? Like there's, yeah, it's exciting. Do you have a read on this UFC Noche rematch as the rematch for the title, Shevchenko trying to make a run back to regain her belt, upset fashion against Alexa Grasso. How interested of a spectator do you think you'll be to that one?

Of course. I mean, I'm watching every time Valentina fights and, and Alexa, I'm also a huge fan of hers as well. So, so yeah, I'm definitely gonna be watching. You, do you have, do you lean either way? Do you think Shevchenko regains the crown? Yeah. You know, I, I always have faith that, that Valentina is the, the one, you know, I always have faith that Valentina is the one, you know what I mean? It's just, I think it really comes down to her mindset and her approach towards this fight. If she acknowledges that Alexa was the better fighter that night, and she kind of focuses on getting better everywhere, and doesn't just go, oh, that was a fluke, or, you know what I mean? Like, or, oh, you know, just make sure I don't give up my back that's it it's like nah so i think it comes down to her attitude and and i know she has the attitude

of a champion i know she's gonna be you know what i mean like make sure she is better everywhere as a martial artist and so if she does that then i see her winning does it excite you as a competitor to have a whole new name of fighters i mean mean, you know, no disrespect to whoever comes out of that fight, but you could be fighting Shevchenko in the future. You could be fighting Grosso for the title. You could be fighting Blanchfield. These are new obstacles for you. Does that jazz you up?

Does that get you fired up? Yeah, 100%. I mean, like, it's fresh. I feel like I've been fighting the same people for the past however many years. That also contributed to my decision to move up. Get some fresh faces in there. I want to fight as many different people as possible. Not fight the same people. The betting odds, they like Farrow.

They have questions about your advancement moving up. Does that ever get in your mind? Do you ever laugh at it? it's like they're trying to guess who's gonna win beforehand and telling everybody how do you feel about hearing that i mean it's just like that's that's what makes fighting fun right is being able to like oh what's gonna happen right and even myself i'm like oh i know i know i know that um i know what i know right but but i also you know the ultimate test of Saturday. So it's all about like just making sure I can control myself and and, you know, let God do the rest. But, yeah, I mean, you know, I'm used to being underdog. I'm used to being, you know, one that surprises people.

So it wouldn't surprise me that I surprise everybody. You have you're a woman of many interests and you seem to throw your passions into that. Do you think it's possible that you're a better gardener or piano player than fighter? Is that possible at this point? Have you leveled up in those areas? Dude, probably not.

Like just because of the time that I put in. I've put in so much time into this game that like, I'm getting there though. Like my garden, there though like my garden you should see my garden it's it's fire right now the tomatoes are coming in hot like the cucumbers the carrots beets everything you know so so but that's like that's like post-fighting i'm gonna be like better at that than i am at fighting so yeah all right well you right. Well, you got the best hype man in the world, Pat Berry behind you. Does he get hyped up for like breakfast too? Is he like, you know,

you got to come down to cereals. Tremendous Rose. You know what I mean? It's 24 seven with that, right? He could be cranky in the morning sometimes, you know, it depends on, it depends on how he slept. You know what I mean? No, but yeah, it depends on how he slept. You know what I mean? No, but yeah, it's great. All right, Rose. We can't wait to see UFC Paris on Saturday. Manon Farrell. Thanks for the time. Best of luck. This is, this is the biggest fight of the weekend. If you ask me, okay,

this is the one that we've got circled on the calendar. We know you'll be ready. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much.