Rose Namajunas isn’t sure what the future holds for her after falling to Jessica Andrade by knockout on Saturday night at UFC 237 from Brazil.
The end of the fight came in dramatic fashion after Andrde hoisted Namajunas up in the air and then brought her crashing back down again. Namajunas landed directly on her head, rendering her unconscious as the fight was stopped a split second later.
In the aftermath of the loss, Namajunas sounded like that could potentially be her last fight, although she’s obviously not going to make that decision while still engaged in a highly emotional situation.
“Just a little mentally tired in there and it’s been such a long training camp, it’s been such a long year and it was a bit much. So I just kind of lost interest in being here,” Namajunas said in her interview on the UFC post fight show.
“I don’t know. Going into this one, I was like this might be the last time I ever do this but we’ll see. We’ll take it one day at a time. It’s super fun, I had a great time, we’ll see, I don’t know.”
The contemplative nature of her future continued when Namajunas spoke at the post fight press conference when asked about what comes next.
Namajunas has always appreciated her championship reign but she’s also never fully embraced the lifestyle that often times goes along with holding a title in the UFC.
Judging by her comments, Namajunas would be content focusing on something other than fighting for a little while, although again she wasn’t ready to go as far as announcing her retirement following UFC 237.
“I just want to do something else with my life right now. I don’t know. We’ll see,” Namajunas said. “I’m not going to make no decisions right now. It’s just hard to keep having fun with this.
“I just gave myself so many things to do and just focusing on one thing. I’m excited that I’ll finally get to pay my house off so I’m excited about that.”
Namajunas said that this wasn’t the first time she’s thought about calling it a career just before or after a fight but this particular training camp definitely took a toll on her personally and professionally.
“I think I always think that but this time it was pretty heavy,” Namajunas explained. “It’s just a lot on Pat [Barry] and I’s relationship. At the same time, there’s so much good that comes out of it so you’ve got to see the bright side in everything.
“It’s easy to dwell on the negative but you’ve also got to not give yourself grey hairs either.”
For now, Namajunas will fly home to the United States with her fiancé and take some time off before making any definitive decisions regarding her future.
