UFC strawweight Rose Namajunas has no regrets about recent controversial remarks she made about strawweight champion Zhang Weili and her native China.
It all started when Namajunas spoke with Lithuanian National Radio and Television this past weekend and was asked about her upcoming fight with Weili. In response, Namajunas used the phrase “better dead than red”, alluding to Weili’s home in communist China.
The phrase “better dead than red” was used as an anti-communist slogan during the height of the Cold War in the mid-1950s.
Namajunas, who is Lithuanian-American, expanded on her comments in an interview with ESPN earlier this week.
“My opinions are based on my experiences,” Namajunas said during an appearance on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” on ESPN. “You can watch ‘The Other Dream Team’ documentary, and you could get a good idea as to what my family had to go through, the reason I’m in the United States today, the reason that I do mixed martial arts, all of that stuff.”
“The Other Dream Team” is a documentary about the 1992 Lithuanian men’s national basketball team’s struggles under soviet rule, and how they became symbols of the country’s movement towards independence.
When asked about Weili specifically as a person, Namajunas clarified that she holds no direct animosity towards the champion and that her past comments are in regards to her country in particular.
“I love Weili. I don’t know her. I know she wants to be friends and all that stuff, and it would be great to get to know her,” Namajunas said.
The two top strawweights are scheduled to fight in the co-main event of UFC 261 on April 24th. Namajunas is coming off of an impressive victory over former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 251, while Weili hasn’t fought since defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk in a slugfest at UFC 248 in March 2020.
Weili hasn’t responded to Namajunas’ recent comments but has said in the past that she hopes the two can be friends going forward.
What do you think about Rose Namajunas’ comments about Zhang Weili and China?