Rose Namajunas is set to defend her title against Carla Esparza at UFC 274 on May 7.
Riding a three-win streak, her last professional loss came back at UFC 237, courtesy of Jessica Andrade. That night, ‘Thug Rose’ lost her 115 lbs title by a scary slam knockout in the second round.
Recently, Namajunas made a claim that the slam from ‘Bate Estaca’ turned out to be a blessing in disguise for her.
In a recent appearance on Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas, Namajunas shared the story. According to her, she was having neck issues ahead of the bout, but surprisingly, the issues were relieved after the slam.
“With Andrade, I mean, that was just a complete, total stripping away of any innocence as far as — I got slammed on my neck and then I got my nose broken ” noted Namajunas.
“I didn’t really actually sustain any damage, even though I got like, KOed. Actually, the neck problems that I had went away after getting slammed on my neck, which is kinda weird. It was sort of a miracle for me.”
She provided more details on the neck issues she suffered prior to the bout.
“I never thought about actually getting it checked out like, afterwards. But before, I had a fracture in my C6, and then I also had spinal stenosis,” said Namajunas. “It would like, make my arm feel weak sometimes, just lifting up my arm. I would get these terrible headaches and stuff. Sometimes if I’m wrestling a lot and grappling, my neck would be a little bit sore.”
However, the symptoms were magically gone after the slam.
“I used to have to put my head in the ice bath backwards just cause my headaches would be so bad.”
“Afterward, I experienced none of those symptoms anymore,” added Namajunas. “I should probably see if I still have those problems.”
With her neck issues have gone somehow, she went on to win a rematch with Andrade, snatched the strawweight belt from Weili Zhang, and beat the former champion in the rematch.