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The Takedown | UFC 268: Zhang Weili throws first blow in Cold War 2.0 trash talk for Rose Namajunas rematch
- China’s former UFC strawweight champion doesn’t seem keen on playing nice this time around
- American ‘Thug’ made first fight political by invoking Cold War slogan ‘better dead than red’, which Zhang says ‘crossed the line’
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The build-up to Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas’ first strawweight title fight at UFC 261 in April was anything but normal, even compared to MMA standards.
While trash talk is almost expected, “Thug Rose” made the fight political when she invoked Cold War rhetoric in an interview with a Lithuanian news outlet a few weeks out from the bout. Namajunas then doubled down on the comments when speaking to ESPN, saying she had no regrets over using the slogan “better dead than red”, which originates from the decades of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.
While MMA fighters are known for crossing lines verbally, stirring up some 1980-style anti-Communist sentiment was something many thought was a step too far from the 29-year-old American, as Zhang has never spoken about her political beliefs beyond being a proud Chinese person.
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“Magnum” (21-2) did her best to ignore the comments, and play them down as a “joke”. But we all know what happened next.
The 32-year-old Zhang walked into a raucous VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, the first capacity-crowd for the UFC since the pandemic started, and was booed mercilessly to and from the Octagon, with reports that she experienced “hateful” anti-Asian vitriol. She got caught with a head kick, and we had a brand new champion within 78-seconds.
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