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UFC 261: Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas call uneasy truce but fists will fly
- UFC strawweight champ shakes hands with challenger – albeit rather reluctantly – after fractious build-up to title fight
- ‘I believe that I’m right in what I believe and when I do my best I am the best,’ says Namajunas, who made controversial comments on communism
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The look in Zhang Weili’s eyes at Friday’s press conference staredowns said it all.
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When “Thug” Rose Namajunas extended her right hand after their face-off for the cameras, the UFC’s strawweight champion glanced at it, paused, then quickly shook it with seeming reluctance and hesitance before flashing the briefest of courteous smiles.
“Magnum” then turned back to the cameras and pointed at her belt, with Saturday night’s UFC 261 co-main event between the Sucker Punch Entertainment stablemates having unexpectedly taken on a little extra added spice.
We already knew we would be in for a treat in the Octagon, with two fighters who regularly rack up bonuses. But former champion-turned-challenger Namajunas’ (9-4) controversial “better dead than red” comments a couple of weeks ago have stirred up a whirlwind of controversy online heading in. And all this, after Zhang (21-1) had said she wanted to “bond” with the Lithuanian-American after their fight is over.
The 28-year-old Namajunas insisted her pre-fight comments were not personal, and more to do with her family’s own experience battling communism in the old USSR. But in hindsight, it probably is not the wisest of choices to even slightly antagonise China’s first UFC champion – who said she “totally ignored” her opponent’s words because they “make no sense”.
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