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PhotoCred: Drake Riggs The build-up to the big strawweight title clash between Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas culminated with some political integration. However, it was just a struggle to make the fight happen in the first place. Now the former champion, China’s Zhang (21-2) hadn’t fought in over a year before the Namajunas encounter in Jacksonville, Florida at UFC 261. “Magnum” ultimately found herself in enemy territory when once again making the walk. “How should I put this…” Zhang began when speaking during a live stream interview. “Last fight with Joanna [Jedrzejczyk], even though she trained in America, she isn’t American. So we were quite equal and neither of us got any boos. But this time, because Rose is American, and Florida is a bit like that… So when I showed up at the event, wow, the boos were really loud. ....
Zhang Weili Says Loud Boos At UFC 261 Impacted Performance Weili Zhang, Photo Credit: Brandon Magnus/Zuffa Zhang Weili admits that the hostile Florida crowd did impact her performance in the UFC 261 co-main event. When fans boo a fighter during a UFC event, it’s uncertain if the fans expect those boos to actually make a difference or if it’s merely an expression of disdain. After all, it’s not as if it’s an NBA event where an opposing player is at the free-throw line and the home crowd is trying to influence his shot. In MMA, fans could be booing a fighter for any number of reasons. ....
Zhang, coach claim boos from hostile Florida crowd contributed to Namajunas loss Share this story Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC At UFC 261 last month Zhang Weili lost her UFC strawweight title to Rose Namajuans via KO. The loss, only the second in Zhang’s 23 fight career, snapped a 21 fight winning streak for ‘Magnum’. Recently Zhang took questions regarding the fight on a live stream. The live stream was conducted in Mandarin, but was uploaded with English subs by YouTube user Scarlett Zeng. During that live stream Zhang talked about the hostile atmosphere she experienced at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL. The event, which featured a sold out crowd of 15,269 people, was the first UFC event with a full crowd since March 2020. ....
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC When Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas faced off at UFC 261 last month, people were expecting a knock-down, drag-out war. Instead, the fight ended just 1:18 into the first round after Namajunas faked going downstairs before unloading a perfect headkick that flattened Zhang (watch highlights). A quick follow up of ground-and-pound forced the referee to stop things and let me tell you, Zhang was not happy with the stoppage immediately after. Now back home in China with a bit of time to digest the loss (and shave her head), Zhang appeared in a live stream interview to discuss the fight. ....