{"id":456106,"date":"2022-08-19T03:59:40","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T10:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=456106"},"modified":"2022-08-19T04:02:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T11:02:19","slug":"fight-fans-react-after-carla-esparza-books-first-title-defense-opposite-weili-zhang-well-that-reign-didnt-last-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/fight-fans-react-after-carla-esparza-books-first-title-defense-opposite-weili-zhang-well-that-reign-didnt-last-long\/","title":{"rendered":"Fight fans react after Carla Esparza books first title defense opposite Weili Zhang: \u201cWell, that reign didn\u2019t last long\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fight fans have reacted to the news that Carla Esparza will defend the UFC strawweight championship against Weili Zhang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ever since her controversial win over Rose Namajunas<\/a> 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 weight class, is a legend in the strawweight division and is now a two-time champ as a result of her second triumph against ‘Thug Rose’.<\/p>\n

Weili Zhang, meanwhile, has been waiting for another crack at the belt ever since going down 2-0 in her own series with Namajunas. She was able to bounce back recently with a brutal knockout win over Joanna J\u0119drzejczyk, setting up a seemingly inevitable meeting with Esparza.<\/p>\n

It was confirmed<\/a> earlier this week that the contest will go down at UFC 281, likely serving as the co-main event to the middleweight title showdown between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.<\/p>\n

Upon hearing of the booking, MMA fans have a few thoughts<\/a> on how it’s going to go down.<\/p>\n

\n

Zhang will murder her<\/p>\n

— Allan Cunningham (@bigsheeks) August 18, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n