In the co-main event of UFC 261, UFC strawweight queen Zhang Weili will take on Rose Namajunas. It’s a crucial fight for the division considering this fight will technically determine who the GOAT of the strawweight division is. However, the fans are talking about a different narrative going into this exciting matchup.
Recently, Rose Namajunas made a controversial statement about his stance on the Chinese government. Namajunas explained that she does not hate Zhang Weili but her dislike for his country’s government would further motivate her to win at UFC 261.
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Zhang Weili is the first Chinese-born UFC champion. It’s needless to say that she is proud of representing China in the biggest MMA promotion in the world. Zhang Weili responded to Rose’s comments in a recent interview on BT Sport and said:
“She is not too much into Rose’s comments. She believes UFC has provided a very good stage for all the athletes around the world. It’s more about showing the positive side. She is just focused on being an athlete. Maybe this the kind of way Rose overcomes her fear to fight Zhang Weili. That’s kind of the emotion Rose gave herself. She and Rose and other fighters have different nationalities, different races, different religions. This is a great platform to know each other through fighting.”
Zhang Weili makes a huge offer to Rose Namajunas
Zhang Weili even offered a friendly offer to Rose Namajunas and asked her to visit China with her. Weili also said that she would pay for Rose’s visit to China as well. She also believes that the Chinese fans are not upset with Rose’s controversial comments as she stated:
“Most Chinese fans are very rational. So they might understand that Rose’s comments came out of nowhere and makes no sense. So they are not getting too angry about it.”
Things get ugly when politics and religion get involved leading to a fistfight. However, the response from the strawweight champion certainly shows how great of a champion she is.
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Zhang is representing her country at the biggest stage and she is certainly doing a commendable job at it.