Jessica-Rose Clark had emotional week in St. Louis after robbery, but 'I came here to do a job'

ST. LOUIS – Jessica-Rose Clark says there wasn’t “really anything that could happen” that was going to distract her from her UFC Fight Night 124 co-headliner with Paige VanZant.

Considering what did happen, she sure meant it.

The Thursday before the fight, Clark announced that her Las Vegas home had been broken into and robbed. The fighter, who used her social media to ask for help catching the suspects, said around $30,000 worth of belongings were stolen. On top of that, her cat, Dwight, was fatally attacked during the invasion.

Speaking to media throughout the week, Clark (9-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) put on a brave face. But after securing a unanimous decision over VanZant (7-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC), Clark admitted it might have been a more emotional affair than she let on – even to herself.

“Super emotional, for sure,” Clark told reporters after the FS1-televised flyweight bout at Scotttrade Center in St. Louis. “But I don’t think I realized how much it affected me until I fought tonight. Right now, I kind of have this big rush of emotion. But it’s all right. I feel like I still stayed really composed and fought an intelligent fight. As long as it doesn’t affect that, I feel I can deal with anything.

“I came here to do a job. So there wasn’t really anything that could happen that was going to distract me from that. It was a very emotional week, and I definitely felt that emotion tonight. I think going home will give me a chance to process everything properly, but I still got the job done. I’m happy.” (via Instagram)

That moment when you know you won, and your team is trying to congratulate you, but you’re just pissed that you didn’t do more to entertain the crowd and the fans. Yeah a win is a win, but I’m an entertainer at heart and there’s nothing more disappointing than not being able to do what you’re capable of doing, even with a victory. This week was rough. The last 3 weeks have been rough. From getting really sick 2 weeks out and not being able to train without feeling like I was having an asthma attack, to multiple injuries (everyone has them, I know), to the events of this week… it’s been a roller coaster that takes its toll physically and mentally. I’m super stoked to be walking out of the @ufc cage with a 2-0 record now, and having officially made the flyweight limit, and I vow to each and every one of you that my next venture inside the UFC octagon will be one to remember!

A post shared by ??Jessy Jess ?? (@missjessyjess) on Jan 15, 2018 at 6:13am PST

Clark certainly has some reasons to be happy as she’s now improved to 2-0 in the octagon following a split decision over Bec Rawlings in her debut. While it may not seem like a huge number, it carries some weight in a division that just started being built.

Add to it the fact that VanZant’s name comes with some visibility and Clark wouldn’t be exactly crazy in daring to dream a little higher. But she is staying grounded. While she won’t shy away from any challenge, the flyweight says hold off on title-contention talks.

“I think there’s still a lot of girls ahead of me,” Clark said. “I’m ranked No. 10 at the moment, which means there are nine other girls and the champ. There’s also women like Valentina (Shevchenko, former 135-pound challenger), who are coming into the division.

“This division’s going to end up being the deepest one. There’s still a lot of people that I have to kind of conquer before I get there. But I’m ready for everyone. I think I’ve shown that time and time again, that it doesn’t mater who it is, I’m going to do what I need to do.”

While Clark’s stance and poise throughout adversity were certainly commendable, one specific bit of her post-fight scrum didn’t age too well. More specifically, her thoughts on the injury VanZant could be heard saying she sustained in Round 1.

As she later confirmed with visual evidence, VanZant indeed broke her arm in the fight. Of course, Clark didn’t know this when she stood in front of reporters backstage. But she might have reviewed her thoughts on her opponent’s injury later on.

“I feel like she’s just being dramatic,” Clark said. “She came up to me and said that to me after the fight. She said that she thinks she broke her arm when she spinning back-fisted me in the head. I’m like, ‘Alright, that’s cool. I hope not.’ But I don’t know what to say to that.”

To hear more from Clark, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 124, check out the UFC Events section of the site.