The Joe Rogan ExperienceJRE MMA Show #13 with Rose Namajunas & Pat Barry
CHAPTERS
- 0:09 – 2:10
Comfort over image: shaved head, harem pants, and feeling safe
Joe and Rose start by joking about her monk-like look—shaved head, beads, and ultra-comfy clothes. Rose explains comfort as a lifestyle choice tied to self-protection and wanting to be able to move (or fight) at any moment.
- •Rejecting heels and restrictive clothing for practicality and safety
- •Growing up hyper-aware and needing to be able to run or defend herself
- •Harem pants and personal style as a comfort-first mindset
- •Standing out as a kid and learning to stay alert
- 2:10 – 5:19
Rituals, placebo, and Rose’s post-fight speech philosophy
Rose explains the meaning behind her wooden beads and how belief itself can create confidence. Joe praises her victory speech after beating Joanna, and Rose describes why giving to others “fills her spiritual cup.”
- •Energy beads as a confidence anchor and the role of belief/placebo
- •Joe’s admiration for Rose’s heartfelt, outward-focused speech
- •Rose’s idea: giving keeps you open to receiving
- •Nature as a model for symbiotic relationships and balance
- 5:19 – 6:16
Anti-trash talk mindset: balancing authenticity with promotion
They contrast Rose’s calm demeanor with the sport’s growing trash-talk culture. Rose argues that promotion is fine, but only when it’s honest and not performative negativity.
- •MMA’s trend toward press-conference drama and manufactured conflict
- •Rose’s emphasis on authenticity: say it if you mean it
- •How her calm presence disrupted Joanna’s intimidation tactics
- •The idea that balance is needed between sport and entertainment
- 6:16 – 8:10
Staying calm under pressure: the elephant analogy and the Lord’s Prayer
Rose compares Joanna’s chaotic energy to an onrushing elephant and explains why calmness is sometimes the only viable response. Joe recalls her “eerily calm” stare-down and learning she was reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
- •Elephant-charge analogy: don’t escalate, stay centered
- •Reciting the Lord’s Prayer as a grounding practice
- •Seeing fights as potentially life-threatening due to the stakes
- •Not giving an opponent the reaction they’re fishing for
- 8:10 – 13:09
NYC fight-week anxiety: delays, crowds, and near-miss events
Rose details how New York fight week amplified her anxiety, including the truck attack near their hotel and fear around protests/crowds. These stressors blended with her past experiences and made the mental battle bigger than the matchup.
- •Flight delay and arriving after the NYC truck attack near their hotel
- •Anxiety around protests and large crowds during fight week
- •Joanna’s intimidation representing deeper, past “negative energy”
- •Choosing not to stop despite fear—showing up is the job
- 13:09 – 16:57
Fight-day routines: shakeout sessions, weight cut, and what she eats
Rose and Pat break down their fight-day routine, especially the “morning shakeout” to burn off nervous energy before the arena. They also cover Rose’s relatively small weight cut, her preference for fluids, and light eating on fight day.
- •Morning shakeout: hard burst of pads/shadowboxing to clear nerves
- •Minimal weight cut strategies (juice fast, sweating, avoiding dehydration)
- •Why Rose barely eats on fight day (digestion and nerves)
- •Food preferences: smoothies in NYC and listening to the body
- 16:57 – 20:04
Homemade diet, kombucha, and a ‘from scratch’ worldview
Rose describes a food philosophy rooted in homemade meals and minimal processing, influenced by her Lithuanian upbringing. The conversation detours into kombucha—making it, fermentation, and why some brands are ‘watered down.’
- •From-scratch cooking as a guiding rule for what (and how often) to eat
- •Lithuanian/Eastern European food roots shaping her tastes
- •Kombucha brewing, SCOBY talk, and fermentation alcohol content
- •Avoiding being overly rigid—prioritizing what feels good
- 20:04 – 24:30
Origins in martial arts: Taekwondo, stick fighting, and finding a career path
Rose recounts being introduced to martial arts young, trying many styles, and using training to stay out of trouble. Meeting Pat and seeing pros at Roufusport helped her realize fighting could become a profession.
- •Early Taekwondo and martial arts as confidence and structure
- •Trying multiple disciplines: karate, basic jiu-jitsu, stick fighting, pankration
- •High school sports background (cross-country, track, basketball)
- •Roufusport influence and seeing a professional path (Pettis, Pat)
- 24:30 – 30:15
Becoming champion and preparing for the rematch: camp as a mental project
They revisit the Joanna knockout and how surreal it feels to be champion. With the rematch looming, Rose and Pat stress continual evolution—improving without trying to recreate the same moment twice.
- •Processing the title win and public recognition after the KO
- •Rematch pressure and how it can create more anxiety than the first fight
- •‘You can’t paint the Mona Lisa twice’—evolving the approach
- •Camp emphasis: mindset, journaling, visualization, and growth
- 30:15 – 36:29
Mental edges and training tools: ice baths, piano, reaction drills, and running
Rose explains how ice baths help her physically and mentally, and how piano practice builds creativity and coordination that can translate to fighting. They also discuss reaction-light drills, accuracy ideas with tennis balls, and her love of running (including minimalist footwear).
- •Ice baths as inflammation control and fear-training for the mind
- •Music and fighting parallels: rhythm, coordination, creativity
- •New accuracy concepts: tennis balls, double-end bags, reaction drills
- •Running for joy (Born to Run), toe shoes, and barefoot running stories
- 36:29 – 1:01:02
Coaching ecosystem: small ‘fight handling’ team, training partners, and coach fit
Rose and Pat outline their tight four-person core team and why cohesion matters more than bouncing between gyms. They also highlight the value of elite partners like Valentina Shevchenko and the importance of finding the right coach-athlete match.
- •Core team structure: Trevor Wittman, Tony, Rose, Pat
- •Why aligned communication beats scattered coaching inputs
- •Training with Valentina: pace, toughness, and technical sharpening
- •Coaches as rare assets—praise, loyalty, and matching personalities
- 1:01:02 – 1:38:55
Purpose, intuition, and fight-week mind games: from ‘ghosting Joanna’ to future plans
The final stretch covers Rose’s timeline (not wanting to fight past 30), her desire to use fighting to ‘change the world,’ and striking stories about her intuition in dangerous situations. They end with detailed fight-week chaos and Joanna’s surreal hallway mind game (“Did you buy the ticket?”), plus the strategy of ‘ghosting’ Joanna via no social media.
- •Rose’s career horizon: planning to stop fighting within ~5 years
- •Using her platform to build an urban farm and promote better examples
- •Cryptocurrency/charity tangent and broader ‘change the world’ intent
- •Intuition stories: leaving places before violence erupts; reading rooms
- •Fight-week weirdness: wrong gloves, wrong walkout song, riddles, and the ‘ghost Joanna’ strategy
