Rose Namajunas breaks silence on the 'mental challenge' of UFC Paris; slams Manon Fiorot for "too small" comment
Rose Namajunas recently opened up on her loss to Manon Fiorot at UFC Paris.
Namajunas returned to the octagon following her loss to Carla Esparza last year to take on Manon Fiorot this past weekend. However, her return did not go to plan, as she ended up suffering a loss via unanimous decision in what was her flyweight debut.
It is worth noting that Rose Namajunas suffered a broken finger in the very first round of the fight, which had a major impact on how the fight played out for the next two rounds. Speaking of the same in a video posted by her manager Brian Butler-Au on Twitter, 'Thug Rose' spoke about the mental challenge she faced and said:
"I wasn't out of there, I was more just like, 'Ah my finger, is this a good enough thing to kind of like roll over?' That was like like the battle in my mind when... 'No I wanna be here, fu*k this, don't have to look pretty this fight.'"
While further addressing the comments made by Manon Fiorot about being too small for the flyweight division, Namajunas said:
"Dude, you felt no stronger than Weili, you felt no stronger than Weili and I beat her as* twice. So shut the fu*k up, I'm not too small for flyweight. You can say anything else, you can say you beat on points, it's okay."
Take a look at the video below:
What advice did Pat Barry give Rose Namajunas after her finger broke?
Rose Namajunas' coach Pat Barry did not seem concerned about her injury. While the two-time women's strawweight champion broke her finger in the first round and approached her corner after the round, Barry interestingly suggested that she does not need a finger.
Rose Namajunas said:
"I think my finger's broke."
Pat Barry responded:
"Alright then leave it. You don't need a finger right now. You need to be close."
Check out the video of Namajunas' interaction with Pat Barry below:
Despite the condition of her finger, Namajunas continued to fight for the remaining two rounds of the fight and even had her moments. However, it is unclear if she will remain in the flyweight division following her loss or move back to strawweight.