Trash talk drives mixed martial arts and takes many forms. Master artists like Chael Sonnen create a compelling story out of whole cloth. Surgeons like Conor McGregor hone in on an area of insecurity and hammer it relentlessly. A little further down the line are fighters who use personal issues to advantage.
UFC 216 fight week featured a UFC 217 staredown and the very best one was women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Rose Namajunas. Joanna Violence whispered bitter barbs while Thug Rose stood utterly stone-faced.
During a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Namajunas revealed what Jedrzejczyk said.
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, said Namajunas, as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. I don’t remember what she said in the middle. And then I think towards the end, as she started walking away, she said, ‘I’m gonna f*** 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.
Of course, fighting is one of the most emotional things that you can possibly do. You have to constantly deal with your emotions, especially myself. I have so many that that’s where I get my energy from. But it’s a matter of controlling them and yeah, I just don’t let nothing affect me.
“[Jedrzejczky trash talk] is just a script. It’s the same script that she’s just been playing over and over again, so to me it’s kind of played out. But that’s just who she is, that’s what she does. So, I don’t know. There’s no thoughts on that.
Joanna can say I’m mentally unstable and this and that — and she might be right. I have a history of it in my family. I think that’s what makes me so great of a fighter. I’m crazy as hell. And fighting helps me with that. I think if more people would hit a bag and more people would train martial arts the right away, I think there would be less tragedies in the world and less f***ed up things that would happen.
