Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Leading up to UFC 261 on April 24, 2021, we haven’t heard too much from Rose Namajunas on her women’s Strawweight title fight against Weili Zhang. On Zhang’s side there’s been nothing but respect and appreciation, and a genuine desire to become friends after the fight:
“From an exchange of blows, friendship grows,” Zhang suggested.
Maybe, but there’s certainly a deeper chasm between the two than Zhang may have realized. In a recent interview, Namajunas explained how she was psyching herself up for their fight by imagining it as a symbolic battle against the Chinese communist party. Namajunas is Lithuanian, and her family suffered under Soviet communism through the 20th century.
‘Better dead than red’ - Namajunas wants to beat Chinese UFC champ Zhang for ‘what she represents’
Share this story
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Zhang Weili is scheduled to defend her UFC strawweight title versus former champion Rose Namajunas this month in the sold out Jacksonville Arena in Florida for UFC 261. Ahead of the fight Namajunas spoke to Lithuanian outlet LRT.
With that outlet Namajunas expressed that she is motivated to fight Zhang, who is Chinese, because of Lithuania’s history of oppression under the Soviet Union. In her interview Namajunas used the slogan “better dead than red” when describing her mindset heading into the fight with Zhang, who she also called “red”.