UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili sat down exclusively with CGTN Sports Scene ahead of her title fight at UFC 261. Weili will take on Rose Namajunas in possibly the toughest test of her career thus far. The fight will probably be a technical war that will deliver on many different levels.

‘Magnum’ is coming off a ‘Fight of the Year’ victory against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 back in March 2020. Despite her guts and glory performance in her very first title defense, Zhang Weili has many doubters. In fact, boxing icon Mike Tyson is one of those doubters who has come out and claimed Weili will be ‘destroyed’ in her bout against Namajunas.

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Zhang Weili responds to Mike Tyson’s prediction

The 21-1 champion out of China has provided an in-depth look at why ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson sided heavily with Rose Namajunas. According to her, it all boils down to differences with which westerners and easterners go about making predictions. What’s more, Zhang Weili also came out opined that Tyson wasn’t necessarily the best fit to be making MMA predictions given his boxing background.

“That might be based on cultural differences between the East and the West. Easterners are relatively reserved, and normally leave wiggle room when making predictions. There’s no defiance for no reason in our style. But Westerners are relatively outgoing and sometimes tend to pass judgement on things that haven’t happened yet.”

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“I also don’t think he’s really eligible to assess MMA, as opposed to boxing in which he has great experience. I could take it into consideration if he was involved with MMA, but he hasn’t really taken it up. So maybe he’s just supporting the fighter from his country. His view hasn’t put any pressure on me or made me unhappy.”

Chiefly, it’s hard to deny that Zhang Weili isn’t a capable foil to the former 115-pound champion Rose Namajunas. ‘Thug’ Rose’s’ reputation precedes her due to the sheer brilliant performances she has turned in during her career. However, there’s no doubt that both women will be tested when they finally collide at UFC 261.