That's what I want to do when I finish fighting - build urban farms and learn how to become a farmer, because that's what I wanted to be when I was a little girl.
— Rose Namajunas
Nobody's the same. So, I think that people benefit in different things than others.
When I force things, it just doesn't go well.
People are gonna go up and down and people are gonna come in and out of this sport.
There's a process to everything. If you fast track or make shortcuts in any way, and you get too much of one thing, you're just out of balance.
I feel like I can go all the way for the belt and hold it awhile.
I'm like a tree. My leaves might change color, but my roots are the same.
I think there's a lot of mental instability in this whole country.
To me, fighting is special because that's what I enjoy to do. Every fight is a memory to me.
I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt myself.
We need the villain sometimes. It makes for an interesting story.
Any mistakes that I make is an investment in my future.
I'm just a very impatient person. It's always something that I'm working on, and just staying interested in the fight game is the biggest challenge for me. As long as I'm interested and I have an incentive to stay interested, then I'm unbeatable.
That Dutch style of kickboxing, that's great. That's hard. It's very intimidating to stand across from, but you know it's very rhythmic on the beat. It's just something: It looks scary, but it's nothing to be scared of.
What's the point of being the best in the world if you scratch and claw your way to the top, and you push everybody down instead of lifting everybody else up with you?
I'm sick of all the hate and anger and stuff like that going on.
I live in a very nice neighborhood. There's nothing that really goes on around here.
You just keep a positive attitude no matter what comes in your way - challenges, roadblocks - don't let it faze you, and you can overcome anything.
Everybody's one fight away from getting a title shot if they step in on short notice for somebody.
I'm always trying to improve, and you can't ever expect anything from me. You can always just expect me to be dangerous.
There's pros and cons to everything, and I choose to look at the positives.
All my jabs, they're all different. I have a million different jabs.
I wanna fight the best.
Every fight is personal, but with myself.
I'm successful every day because I look in the mirror, and I'm happy with who I am.
I think it's important to inspire other people to try and do things that people discourage you to do.
Your mind is just like your body. It's a muscle you can train and get better at.
People think after the fight you get to sit around and relax and all that. But really, people come around and family and all that, so it's a whole 'nother responsibility you have to take care of.
I'm more dramatic than other people are, or I just show it more. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I have a lot of passion.
All I can do is make sure I show up to fight, and then they have no choice but to pay me.
I've done taekwondo striking my entire life.
Me being the best in the world, it doesn't mean that much to me if I'm not a good person at the end of the day, if I'm not setting a good example for other people to be better to each other.
Martial arts is about honor and respect.
I feel like anything can be worked out; you just gotta talk through it as adults.
It's really nice to know that hard work does pay off.
I don't necessarily know about the rankings. I always like to look at it as, it's the person with the belt, and it's everybody else.
I wake up every morning trying to be a new, better person and version of myself. I never try and be the same thing. So that's what's going to be hard for girls to keep up with me, because I'm always ever-evolving my style.
Sometimes when you push something or you force something too much, the progress doesn't happen the way it should.
When I'm totally in tune with myself, and I'm flowing, it don't matter who I'm fighting; that's just a problem for anybody.
I respect my competition.
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.
Money and fame, it only makes you so happy. You gotta find other reasons to fight. I want a certain amount of money to do the things that I want to do.
I think we have a great opportunity as fighters and athletes to be good role models. I'm by no means perfect, but I think we can try.
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.
Oh, man - I don't have just one favorite fighter, but I draw from many different aspects of each fighter. But I will say, just going back in the history of the UFC, just kind of trying to learn from each fighter, I've been looking at Brock Lesnar, all the things he did for the UFC back in the day, and his attitude and things like that.
I'm just here to show up and fight and then get my money and go home.
I think that's what makes me so great of a fighter. I'm crazy as hell. And fighting helps me with that.
I've got Pat 'HD' Barry in my corner.
It takes a lot of courage in that cage no matter who you are.
All I can control is myself and just keep having a positive attitude.
