We have to respect that. Zhang briefly engages in mount throwing punches. Weili bounced back with a highlight-reel spinning-backfist KO over Joanna Jedrzejczyk in June this year. Esparza has been on the finest run of her career so far, which includes her capturing the strawweight title from Rose Namajunas back in May. Although their title fight left a lot to be desired, the split-decision victory for the 35-year-old meant that she is now riding high on a six-fight winning run. She wants to move Esparza's back and just muscles into her position. Who won Esparza vs Zhang? The Chinese standout gets a late takedown and lands some decent shots to close out the round. Carla Esparza heard all the boos and the chiding and the derision coming her way as she stood in the cage against Rose Namajunas this past May. The bout served as the co-main event of UFC 281: Adesanya vs Pereira fight card live stream on ESPN+ PPV in the United States and Main Event on Kayo in Australia. But the fight also an opportunity, both to prove she deserves a long title reign, and perhaps a chance to keep the boos at bay.
Carla Esparza via submission in Round 2. Who would you like to see Zhang fight next following her submission victory over Esparza this evening in New York City? Zhang with an active guard, Esparza backs out and throws a few punches as Zhang stands. Zhang not letting Esparza reverse position easily, she has one arm trapped between her legs. Zhang's arms down to the chin and she locks in a choke, which is tight. She added: "If I were to become the strawweight champion for the second time, I would go bigger. Esparza vs Zhang stats. Zhang had beaten 3 of her last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance once. However, she's got a difficult task ahead of her in her first defense as she takes on former strawweight champion Zhang Weili. The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Women's Strawweight division, which meant the weight limit was 115 pounds (8. One of the most unexpected champions in recent history, Esparza etched her name into the history books by reclaiming the strawweight title seven years after first losing it, winning a split decision over…Read more on Publisher's website.
Esparza vs Weili Vegas Odds. Carla Esparza and Weili Zhang square off in the UFC strawweight title bout at UFC 281. Esparza's jab is a glance across Zhang's face. A scramble ensued and the champion found herself in guard but couldn't do any damage from top position. The former collegiate wrestler became the UFC's first strawweight champion in December 2014, also beating Namajunas, but immediately lost the belt to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2015. Esparza (19-7 MMA) recaptured the 115lbs title at May's UFC 274 event, scoring a split-decision win over Rose Namajunas. Esparza comes forward but gets hit by a hard right.
Weili Zhang made her way to the cage with a record of 22 wins, 3 loses and 0 draws, with 11 of those wins by knock out and 7 by submission. You've got this big strong versus the little one with a lot of heart. The Prelims air at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on ESPNews and the Main Card will air exclusively on ESPN+ in the U. S. at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. Weili will have a two-inch reach advantage, and unlike Rose, she has the ability to withstand any of Esparza's bursts in terms of dirty boxing of clinches. She had won against Jessica Andrade at UFC on ESPN+ 15 on 31st August 2019 by knockout in the 1st round in their UFC Women's Strawweight championship fight at Universiade Sports Centre, Shenzhen, China. In the UFC 281 main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defends his title against old rival Alex Pereira. Zhang sticking with leg kicks as she tries to close the distance.
Jump to: The co-main event at the upcoming UFC 281 will be the strawweight bout between the champion Carla Esparza and the former title holder, Zhang Weili. Esparza faces a tough challenge against Zhang, herself a former UFC champion with two previous wins over Jedrzejczyk, and an opponent she says she agreed to meet in 2020. Esparza had won 5 of her most recent fights, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 4 times. She starts to kick high, but Esparza stays out of bounds. 'JJ' has defended Esparza and believes she should be treated with more respect. Esparza wants her back, so she just muscled herself into position. Zhang avoids an armbar and gets back on his feet as the round ends. Vote count: 2 No votes so far! Despite this, both fighters had equal reach. The 33-year-old heads into UFC 281 off the back of a stunning spinning backfist KO over 'JJ'. While she might get Weili down at some point, holding her down is an entirely different problem and one that she won't be able to solve.
She starts flicking out high kicks, but Esparza is staying out of range. Method of victory odds. Zhang scrambles to get out of the way again, despite being given power double by Esparza. Going into that contest, she had beat Marina Rodriguez at UFC Fight Island 3 on 25th July 2020 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Esparza tough to hold down, she gets Zhang into half guard. In her last fight leading up to this contest, she had defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275 on 11th June 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore. Or check it out in the app stores. I just saw an interview where she was like, 'I'm gonna crush her with wrestling, on the ground with my strength'...