Pat Barry is currently in hiding. pic.twitter.com/5uHPL1WCfU

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) November 4, 2017

Joanna Jedrzejczyk has always been intimidating during the build-up to any fight, but this just has been different. Everything is turned up to 11 and that’s not just a Stranger Things reference directed toward Rose Namajunas. Jedrzejczyk will be stomping into Madison Square Garden again to tie Ronda Rousey’s title defense record. The essence of her highest moment must have conjured up something inside her. For the first time though, something else has made the fight a little bit more intense. Former UFC fighter and Rose Namajunas’ signifficant other Pat Barry allegedly insulted Jedrzejczyk’s assistant, which the strawweight champion wasn’t too happy about at all.

“You can not do this. Here, it was yesterday when I was cutting my weight. You can not do this. You can not say to the woman a word like this, because you are not a gentleman and you are not a human if you say this to a woman. [Pat Barry] said that she’s a little b-tch. So, you can not say this. Not to me. To my assistant. You can not say this. You can not say this. Come on. […] I said to [Rose Namajunas] that I always bring a present for my opponent for the weigh-ins, but the thing is that I want to bring her pain tomorrow. That’s it. That’s all I have for her.”

“I don’t care [if Rose Namajunas cried in her last interview] She did that. Pat Barry said bad things to my teammates, to team Joanna. The thing is, I was trained with Ernesto Hoost in Amsterdam and Pat Barry was part of the team. He’s the biggest pussy there is in the martial arts. So sorry for saying this. I can not be more respectful to my opponents, but they don’t get this but I don’t care. [I saw in her eyes that] she’s scared. Craziness. I’m just focused on tomorrow, she’s my next big challenge. I said so many times about her that she’s the future of this sport, that she’s the future of this strawweight division, that she’s very talented, that she’s going to be a champion one day. But even when you say this, they don’t get this. So, I’m not going to pet her like a puppy. Tomorrow we are going to fight and I’m expecting her in the best shape ever. — Joanna Jedrzejczyk speaking to TSN yesterday.

Not that Joanna Jedrzejczyk ever needed an excuse to be hyped for competition, but this adds a whole new facet to this fight with Rose Namajunas. The staredowns haven’t been like anything we’ve seen in recent years. Jedrzejczyk kissing her fist and placing it on Namajunas’ face while she recited The Lord’s Prayer. Somehow, the stakes just keep getting higher. Jedrzejczyk seems to just now be breaking out and entering her prime. Tonight will find out if she reaches a new level, or Rose Namajunas shocks the world.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 11/4/2017.