https://www.mmafighting.com/platform/amp/2021/4/11/22378579/rose-namajunas-motivated-to-beat-zhang-weili-for-what-she-represents-communism-better-dead-than-red

As she prepares to battle Zhang for the 115-pound title at UFC 261 on April 24, Namajunas recently talked about her Lithuanian heritage and the country’s fight for freedom from the communist Soviet Union, which ended in 1990. Namajunas then related that to Zhang’s own home country of China, where the communist party remains in power today.

According to Namajunas, whose family hails from Lithuania, she’s found a new drive to beat Zhang after educating her teammates on Lithuania’s own history to rid the country of communism after living under Soviet rule following World War II.

“I don’t hate Weili or anything like that, but I do feel as though I have a lot to fight for in this fight and what she represents,” Namajunas said when speaking to Lithuanian outlet LRT ahead of UFC 261. “I was just, I was just trying to remind myself of my background and everywhere that I come from and my family and everything like that. And I kind of wanted to educate my training partner Chico Camus on the Lithuanian struggle and just the history of it all. So we watched ‘The Other Dream Team’ just to get like an overall sentiment of what we fight for. And so, just after watching that it’s just a huge reminder of yeah — better dead than red, you know?"

“I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Weili is red, you know, that’s what she represents. It’s nothing personal against her, but that’s a huge motivating factor of why I fight and I fight for freedom and I’ve got the Christ consciousness, I’ve got Lithuanian blood and I’ve got the American dream, and all of those things I’m taking with me into this fight.”