Henry Cejudo reportedly yelled 'go back to China' at Zhang Weili in training

Henry Cejudo reportedly yelled 'go back to China' at Zhang Weili to encourage her for Rose Namajunas rematch

Modified Nov 06, 2021 17:58 GMT

Henry Cejudo (left), Zhang Weili (right) [Images courtesy: @henry_cejudo @zhangweilimma on Instagram]

When her rematch with UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas was officially announced, Zhang Weili revealed that she would be enlisting the aid of Henry Cejudo and Eddie Cha at Fight Ready to help her prepare.

Henry Cejudo is one of the most decorated combat sports athletes of all time. He has held both the UFC flyweight and bantamweight titles, as well as an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling.

Naturally, Cejudo has been imparting his high level wrestling skills to Zhang Weili. According to a recent report from ESPN, 'Triple C' also took it upon himself to assist Zhang with the mental side of preparation.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi revealed the following as a part of Zhang's preparation:

"A YouTube video with the sound of fans loudly booing at a sporting event is being broadcast over the gym's speakers. Coaches and training partners gather around and join in with the jeers, plus chants of 'USA!' Henry Cejudo, the former UFC double champion and now one of Zhang's coaches, yells for her to 'go back to China!'"

This is certainly a somewhat extreme measure to take. However, Zhang Weili has previously stated that the crowds' American bias severely impacted her mental state going into the first Namajunas fight.

Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas 2

At UFC 268, Zhang Weili will have the opportunity to not only get a win back over Rose Namajunas, but also win back her strawweight title. The first fight ended in a shock knockout after Namajunas landed a clean kick to Zhang's jaw in the first round.

The result could not have been more decisive. However, due to the nature of the flash KO, a fight dynamic was never established. This meant that fans never truly saw whose skillset was better attributed to winning the fight over a longer stretch of time.

There is always a chance Namajunas will land an early finish again but, if she does not, it is still open for debate as to who will come out on top.