Jessica-Rose Clark has an MMA record of 6-2-0-1NC as a pro, but the biggest fight of her life and career may have been outside of the cage.
Clark recently revealed through her Facebook page about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her now ex-boyfriend, a fellow MMA fighter in Julian Wallace.
Here is her entire Facebook post:
I'm not entirely sure what to write.
This is something that I have struggled with being able to speak about over the last couple of months. Until my close friends and family encouraged me to be open about it in the hope of not only helping the women in this mans future, but other women men and children who are being subjected to situations like this or worse.
It has only been a few short months and one of the hardest things for me to come to terms with, is the fact that the man I was so head over heels in love with, and professed to be madly in love with me in return, could act the way he did. And I was too stupid to leave. I was too in love to leave. I truly believed things would get better.
They got worse.
It saddens me that this particular incident had to happen before I finally found the courage to leave. And it saddens me that I was still so caught in his spell, that I still went back multiple times to see him even after it happened. I still told him I loved him and I even considered trying to make it work again. 5th time is a charm right?
I am BLESSED to have had beautiful friends and my family for me to lean on whenever I was feeling tempted by his beautiful words and his sweet actions. They always reminded me of where I had come from.
I had to leave the country to break free of his spell completely.
I saw him 3 days before I left for America. He begged me to come say goodbye to him and I did. I couldn't even look him in the eye. I had to leave.
I haven't spoken to him or contacted him since.
I am so grateful for the support network that I had and have around me because without it, I might still be caught in that trap.
Thank you to everyone who has been there for me through every threat, every fight, every hit, every time I was made to feel like I was nothing and nobody would ever love me or want me the way he did.
The reason I came out so publicly about this is because it TERRIFIES me to think that if someone like myself, a professional fighter, can get so deeply caught in such a toxic and hurtful situation, and knowing how hard it is to break free of their hold on you, then what hope is there for the women, men and children who don't have the physical ability to not only defend themselves but remove themselves from the situation.
I am urging everyone, PLEASE don't ever feel like you are alone. There are people everywhere who will help you. I will help you. Msg me any time of the day or night and I will be here.
I wasn't alone, no matter how degraded and isolated I was, I realised I was never alone.
You are not alone.
Perhaps the worst incident of them all occurred this past April when Clark (who is also known as Jessy Jess) was allegedly nearly choked unconscious by Walllace for bringing home the wrong dinner. The Invicta Fighting Championships veteran was nailed with knee strikes to her body and chased her around their apartment before nearly choking her into unconsciousness.
In late September, Wallace plead guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and also one count of intentionally choking with recklessness, Wallace will be reporting for sentencing on December 7th.
Clark was able to escape her predicament by using her MMA training to break free of the choke and escape the arms of her attacker. According to the story in the Daily Mail, Clark was engaged to Wallace at the time the incident occurred, they are not engaged anymore.
Here's what Clark said about the incident this past April:
“He started attacking me, it went on for about 20 minutes, he kicked me in the head with timberland boots on…He got me in a muay thai headlock in the kitchen and was elbowing me in the face…He was holding my head in one hand and hitting me with the other…”
Wallace, according to The Bloody Elbow, is currently dating UFC veteran Ashlee Evans-Smith, neith he or Evans-Smith has issued any kind of statement on the abuse of Clark or their relationship.
Clark last competed this past July at Eternal MMA 19 and she got a decision win over Janay Harding, Wallace last competed this past August at Xtreme Fighting Championships 2, suffering a submission loss to Gustavo Falciroli.
