“Thug” Rose Namajunas insists she has no regrets over her “better dead than red” comments that have added spice to April 24’s UFC 261 title fight against China’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili. Namajunas (10-4) drew criticism from some fans for a perceived attack on Zhang (21-1), who had said she wanted to “bond” with her opponent even if she beats her in Jacksonville, Florida. But the Lithuanian-American former champ doubled down on her words in an interview on Wednesday with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, who suggested some fans might think it was unfair to bring politics into the situation given Zhang has not spoken about her political beliefs. “That’s true and I don’t know what her beliefs are,” Namajunas said. “But here’s the thing, and this is a question maybe we should ask her, can we even really know what she actually believes? She may be being told what to say. I don’t know. Do we know exactly what she believes? Rose Namajunas stands by her comments that opposition to communism is a motivating factor in her fight against champion Zhang Weili at UFC 261. Zhang, who has not been known to publicly express her political beliefs, is UFC’s first and only champion from China. pic.twitter.com/M44ZdHYytd — ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 14, 2021 “For me and for my experience with communism, is that you can’t freely have an opinion, you can’t criticise your government,” she said. “I can talk about America and how imperfect it is, and how there’s lots of things messed up about us and stuff like that, and I’m very grateful for that freedom to do so.” UFC: fans turn on ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas after Zhang Weili ‘red’ comments Namajunas, 28, and Zhang, 31, are stablemates under manager Brian Butler-Au at SuckerPunch Entertainment, and there had not been even a hint of bad blood in the build-up to their fight until this week. But Namajunas still insists it is nothing personal. “I love Weili,” she said. “I don’t know her and so I know she wants to be friends and all that stuff and it would be great to get to know her if we could, if that’s possible. But I love everybody as a human being. These are the experiences I’m grateful for, even the things that have been done wrong against me or anybody that I love. “I think everybody has a certain level of PTSD or just past experiences that just kinda trigger them and haunt them in the present moment. But in the present moment everything’s great. I have freedoms and I’m grateful for the freedoms I have. But every once in a while I have to battle demons of, ‘Is somebody trying to control me? Is somebody trying to tell me what to do? Is somebody trying to constrict?’ “That’sone of my top priorities. Other people have certain demons, like they just wanna be safe or happy. For me, freedom is one of the top things, safety kinda comes underneath that. It’s just a juggling act. Namajunas again referenced the 2012 documentary The Other Dream Team , which chronicles the Lithuanian national basketball team’s journey to the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, as well as the broader historical context of the fall of the Soviet Union, which allowed Lithuania to re-establish its independence. “I’m kind of unaware as far as people’s feelings about it, just because everybody has an opinion, and nobody has to share the same opinion as me,” she said. “My opinions are based on my experiences – this is not something I looked up on YouTube, this is an actual reference to a documentary. “If you’re confused about any of my opinion, you can watch the documentary and get a good idea about what my family had to go through, the reason I’m in the United States today, the reason I do mixed martial arts. I’d probably have a real different life if it wasn’t for everything in that documentary and how Lithuanians had to struggle with communism and oppression. “The reason I brought it up and I referenced it is because the reporter suggested I had animosity towards past opponents and that’s what maybe caused some motivation in those fights, and this one there’s no animosity so maybe there’s a lack of motivation. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Number one, I don’t have any animosity towards anybody. Obviously I’m not perfect, I’m a sinner, I definitely have emotions. But when I’m fighting there’s no emotions towards that person, it’s just an outward manifestation of my inner demons that I have to deal with every day. “This is not directed at Weili as a person, but at the same time I’m motivated for this fight more than ever. This is my history, this is where I come from and these are the demons that I have to face every day. “That’s just kinda how I feel about it and if there’s any confusion, watch the documentary, I really encourage people to do that. “It’s something that I’m very thankful for because going through all that and knowing all the history and stuff, it reminds me of why freedom is so important.”