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Weili Zhang was surprised that fight fans booed “poor” Carla Esparza at UFC 281 in New York: “I don’t know why. Maybe more fans like my fight style”
Weili Zhang has admitted that she was surprised to hear fans booing Carla Esparza during their showdown at UFC 281. Earlier this month at UFC 281, Weili Zhang regained the UFC strawweight championship. After a competitive first round, the Chinese sensation submitted Carla Esparza to become a two-time champ. Zhang was clearly getting the better […]
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Carla Esparza issues statement following title loss to Weili Zhang at UFC 281
Carla Esparza has issued a statement following her title loss to Weili Zhang at UFC 281. UFC 281 saw Carla Esparza (20-7 MMA) get in the Octagon with Weili Zhang (23-3 MMA) in the women’s strawweight co-main event which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City this past Saturday night, November 12th. […]
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What’s next for the stars of UFC 281?
The UFC returned to Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York for a stacked UFC 281 that saw both titles change hands. In the main event, Israel Adesanya was looking to defend his middleweight title against Alex Pereira. The co-main event saw Carla Esparza looking to defend her strawweight belt against Zhang Weili. […]
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Pros react after Weili Zhang subs Carla Esparza at UFC 281
Tonight’s UFC 281 event was co-headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight featuring Carla Esparza taking on Weili Zhang. Esparza (19-7 MMA) had recaptured the 115lbs title at May’s UFC 274 event, scoring a split-decision win over Rose Namajunas. That victory served as ‘The Cookie Monster’s’ sixth in a row, a streak which included wins […]
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UFC 281 Results: Weili Zhang stops Carla Esparza in Round 2 (Video)
Tonight’s UFC 281 event is co-headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight featuring Carla Esparza taking on Weili Zhang. Esparza (19-7 MMA) recaptured the 115lbs title at May’s UFC 274 event, scoring a split-decision win over Rose Namajunas. That victory served as ‘The Cookie Monster’s’ sixth in a row, a streak which has seen her […]
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UFC 281: ‘Adesanya vs. Pereira’ Live Results and Highlights
The Octagon returns to New York for tonight’s UFC 281 event, a fourteen-bout fight card headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira. Adesanya (23-1 MMA) and Pereira (6-1 MMA) of course have a history, with ‘Poatan’ having defeated ‘Stylebender’ on two occasions in the Glory kickboxing ring. Israel Adesanya will be returning to action for […]
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk comes to Carla Esparza’s defense after fans booed her at UFC 281 presser: “She deserves respect”
Joanna Jedrzejczyk has come to the defense of UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza. ‘Cookie Monster’ is set to return to action this Saturday at UFC 281 against Weili Zhang. ‘Magnum’ is fresh off her knockout win over the former Polish champion in June. Heading into the title fight this Saturday, Zhang is a massive […]
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UFC 281 | Pro fighters make their picks for Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili title fight
In the co-main event of UFC 281, the strawweight title is on the line as Carla Esparza looks to defend her belt for the first time as she takes on Zhang Weili. Heading into the fight, Esparza is a +285 underdog while the challenger is a massive -400 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the fight, […]
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Strawweight champion Carla Esparza booed at UFC 281 presser in New York (Video)
Carla Esparza was given a harsh reception from the New York crowd at the UFC 281 pre-fight presser. Boos rang out in the Big Apple a the 115lb champ talked about having ‘unfinished business’ heading into her co-main event clash with Zhang Weili. The American became the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion when she beat […]
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Carla Esparza relishing in underdog role ahead of UFC 281 title defense against Weili Zhang: “It’s always great to win, but to silence all the doubters”
UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza is happy to be the underdog this weekend. ‘Cookie Monster’ is set to return for the first time since her controversial win over Rose Namajunas in May. While their first outing eight years prior was a dominant win for Esparza, the second encounter wasn’t. In fact, not much happened […]
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Rose Namajunas hopes for trilogy with Carla Esparza, but admits there isn’t much fan interest: “I don’t know if I’d want to subject the fans to that”
Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is back on the hunt for gold. ‘Thug Rose’ has been out of action since her rematch with Carla Esparza in May. Their first encounter eight years prior was one-sided traffic. Esparza dominated and won by submission to become the first UFC women’s strawweight champion. Nearly a decade […]
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Weili Zhang prepared to fight fearlessly against Carla Esparaza at UFC 281: “I don’t care about win or lose anymore”
UFC women’s strawweight contender Weili Zhang is prepared for her fight with Carla Esparza. ‘Magnum’ has been out of action since June. At UFC 275, Zhang faced Joanna Jędrzejczyk in a rematch of their famous brawl in March 2020. In that outing, the Chinese fighter won by split decision after five rounds of pure chaos. […]
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Fight fans react after Carla Esparza books first title defense opposite Weili Zhang: “Well, that reign didn’t last long”
Fight fans have reacted to the news that Carla Esparza will defend the UFC strawweight championship against Weili Zhang. Ever since her controversial win over Rose Namajunas earlier this year, fans have been wondering what the next step is going to be for Carla Esparza. The veteran, who was the first ever champion in the […]
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Carla Esparza set to defend her strawweight title against Weili Zhang at UFC 281
Carla Esparza in set to defend her strawweight title against Weili Zhang at UFC 281. Esparaza took to ‘Twitter‘ this morning announcing the bout: “It’s official!! UFC 281 Madison Square Garden on November 12th!” Carla Esparza (19-6 MMA) is sporting 6 wins in a row, the latest coming against Rose Namajunas (11-5 MMA) by split […]
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Jessica Andrade claims UFC champion Carla Esparza blocked her on social media after she requested a fight
Jessica Andrade has claimed Carla Esparza blocked her on social media after she asked to fight her for the title. While she may be moving back up to flyweight for a showdown with Manon Fiorot at UFC Paris, Jessica Andrade still very much has her eyes on the prize at strawweight – the division in […]
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Carla Esparza gives injury update, confirms she’ll fight by end of 2022
UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza will be in the octagon by the end of the year. ‘Cookie Monster’ faced off against Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 in May. It was a rematch of their showdown in December 2014, where Esparza won via submission. At UFC 274, the latter moved to 2-0 in the series, as […]
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Carla Esparza not surprised by Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s retirement, says she “would’ve loved” a rematch
UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza has admitted she would’ve liked the chance to have a rematch against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. While the way in which Carla Esparza became a two-time UFC champion was somewhat strange, there was nothing odd about how she submitted Rose Namajunas in 2014 to win the gold the first time around. Alas, […]
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Carla Esparza discusses possible superfight with Valentina Shevchenko: “That would be scary”
UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza isn’t very interested in fighting fellow titleholder Valentina Shevchenko. ‘Cookie Monster’ is fresh off her title-winning performance against Rose Namajunas last month. The victory saw her claim the 115-pound championship for the second time. However, the win over ‘Thug Rose’ was also labeled as one of the worst fights […]
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Daniel Cormier gives take on Carla Esparza vs. Weili Zhang: “She might be the biggest challenger favorite ever”
Daniel Cormier believes that UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza will be a massive underdog to Weili Zhang. ‘Cookie Monster’ re-captured the UFC’s strawweight title following a win over Rose Namajunas last month. The win saw her move her win-streak to six, and become champion for the first time since 2015. However, her win over ‘Thug […]
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Carla Esparza rejects the idea of fighting Weili Zhang at UFC 281: “She needs to go on my timeline”
Carla Esparza is rejecting the idea of fighting Weili Zhang at UFC 281. UFC 281 is scheduled for Saturday October 22nd at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Carla Esparza, the newly crowned strawweight champion apparently is in no hurry to get back in the Octagon with former champion and number 2 […]
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk shares her prediction for Carla Esparza vs. Weili Zhang
Joanna Jedrzejczyk has given her thoughts on what will happen when Weili Zhang challenges Carla Esparza for the UFC strawweight title. Last Saturday night at UFC 275, Joanna Jedrzejczyk retired from mixed martial arts following her knockout defeat at the hands of Weili Zhang. The two put on a thoroughly entertaining rematch in Singapore and […]
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Zhang Weili explains her idea for a UFC Strawweight Title fight against Carla Esparza
Zhang Weili has an interesting idea for a UFC Strawweight Title fight against champion Carla Esparza. Zhang made it clear that she’s still an elite 115-pounder at UFC 275. She silenced the doubters by knocking Joanna Jedrzejczyk out cold with a spinning backfist in Singapore. She now appears to be in prime position to be […]
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Chael Sonnen calls for Carla Esparza vs. Rose Namajunas 3: “We have to redo the match”
Chael Sonnen has given an unpopular opinion. ‘The Bad Guy’ thinks the UFC should book a trilogy fight between Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas. Last Saturday night at UFC 274, fans were witness to arguably the worst title fight in MMA history. Eight years after Esparza and Namajunas had an entertaining fight for the inaugural […]
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk sends a warning to newly crowned UFC champion Carla Esparza: “History likes to make a circle and I’m soon to be champ”
Joanna Jedrzejczyk has sent a warning to Carla Esparza following the latter’s win over Rose Namajunas at UFC 274. Next month at UFC 275, Joanna Jedrzejczyk will run it back with Zhang Weili as they square off in a number one contender match-up at strawweight. The victor is expected to go on and challenge for […]
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Henry Cejudo calls ‘Namajunas vs. Esparza 2’ the worst fight in UFC history: “Rose you just don’t deserve a rematch”
Henry Cejudo has dubbed last weekend’s Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza rematch as the worst fight in UFC history. Namajunas (11-5 MMA) put her strawweight on the line against Esparza (19-6 MMA) in the co-headliner of last Saturday’s UFC 274 event in Phoenix. The bout served as a rematch as the pair had previously met […]
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Carla Esparza reacts to commentary criticism during her fight with Rose Namajunas: “They were being real”
UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza understood the criticism she received from the broadcast booth. Last Saturday night at UFC 274, ‘Cookie Monster’ faced off against Rose Namajunas. The two had clashed eight years prior, with Esparza picking up the win to become strawweight champion. At UFC 274, she once again picked up the victory, but […]
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What’s next for the stars of UFC 274?
The UFC returned to Phoenix, Arizona for a stacked UFC 274 card where Charles Oliveira lost his lightweight title on the scale. In the main event, Oliveira still took on Justin Gaethje but it was only ‘The Highlight’ who could win the lightweight strap. The co-main event saw Rose Namajunas looking to defend her strawweight […]
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Jessica Andrade slams “champion of boredom” Carla Esparza following UFC 274: “I can’t wait to rip your head off!”
Former strawweight queen Jessica Andrade ripped into new champion Carla Esparza following her win at UFC 274. Just a few weeks ago, Jessica Andrade made a successful return to the strawweight division by submitting Amanda Lemos with just over three minutes gone in the first round of their main event encounter. Last Saturday night, meanwhile, […]