MMA News<\/a>). \u201cI found my passion again. I went back to Minnesota to see one of my coaches from early on in my amateur career \u2014 Greg Nelson. He\u2019s just like a huge inspiration for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been tough. I think the reason why I wanted to retire was because this isn\u2019t a job where you can go in half-assed and not be fully passionate about what you\u2019re doing. There\u2019s been times where I\u2019ve not been totally confident in myself going into a fight and then I just pull it off or get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Namajunas continued, explaining how the pressure of being a UFC champion impacted her focus and motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI made it into everything I didn\u2019t want it to be,\u201d Namajunas said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want the belt to define me and all I did was make it define me and that\u2019s all that was on my mind every day. \u2026 It turned into a shackle and chain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Namajunas has not fought since UFC 237 in May, when she was defeated by Jessica Andrade, losing the belt in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She remains one of the world’s very best strawweights, but her future in the division \u2014 and the sport \u2014 would seem to hinge on her motivation to continue fighting. The good news is that she is seemingly refocused having reconnected with her former coach Greg Nelson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you think the future holds for the former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article first appeared on <\/em>BJPENN.COM<\/em><\/a> on 11\/12\/2019. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rose Namajunas has lost and rediscovered her passion for fighting. The former UFC strawweight champion detailed her complicated relationship with combat on Monday’s edition of\u00a0Ariel Helwani\u2019s MMA Show. \u201cI lost the passion for martial arts and fighting. Mainly for fighting,\u201d Namajunas said (transcript via MMA News). \u201cI found my passion again. I went back to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":313376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10651,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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