Weili Zhang received a hostile reception from the crowd at Madison Square Garden. She still put on a good performance and probably should have earned a decision win over Rose Namajunas at UFC 268.
Only one of the judges saw things that way with the other two having the fight in favour of Namajunas. But this time Zhang says the boos did not have any impact on her.
Her team had attempted to recreate the hostile atmosphere during training camp and Zhang says she was well prepared,
“I think the training was helpful. When I got booed I understood that it was not because they don’t like me it was because I’m not from the same country. So I felt a lot better. When they were booing me I just took deep breaths.”
While she seemed genuinely traumatized by her experience at UFC 261 in Jacksonville the Chinese strawweight says she will remember this experience more fondly even though the result didn’t go her way,
“I’m just grateful for this opportunity to fight in New York in front of such a big audience.”
