{"id":458751,"date":"2022-09-20T12:37:40","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T19:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=458751"},"modified":"2022-09-20T12:37:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T19:37:40","slug":"kamaru-usman-on-the-possibility-of-weili-zhang-defeating-carla-esparza-at-ufc-281-that-would-be-sad-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/kamaru-usman-on-the-possibility-of-weili-zhang-defeating-carla-esparza-at-ufc-281-that-would-be-sad-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamaru Usman on the possibility of Weili Zhang defeating Carla Esparza at UFC 281: \u201cThat would be sad to watch\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kamaru Usman is speaking about the possibility of Weili Zhang defeating Carla Esparza at UFC 281.<\/p>\n

It will be Carla Esparza (19-6 MMA) vs Weili Zhang (22-3 MMA) in the strawweight co-main event at UFC 281 on Saturday November 12, 2022 at Madison Square Garden in New York.<\/p>\n

The match-up has incited some criticism from fans as well as former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.<\/p>\n

Usman believes the title championship, should Weili win in November, is contradictory because former titleholder, Rose Namajunas (11-5 MMA), previously defeated Weili in consecutive title fights.<\/p>\n

In speaking with Joe Rogan, Kamaru Usman had this to say about a Zhang vs Esparza bout (h\/t MMANews<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\u201cI still think that Rose, some of the things that she can do is amazing. (Her last fight was) not her best, obviously\u2026 I think she\u2019s in a place where she\u2019s made peace with it. I would love to see her get that one back but they already announced that Carla\u2019s fighting Zhang Weili, which is \u2014 I mean, that would be sad to watch. Let\u2019s say Zhang Weili goes and takes the title from Carla, that would be sad to watch her walk around with the title when Rose has bested her twice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

‘Thug’ lost her title to Carla Esparza in May of this year at UFC 274. It was a split decision victory for ‘Cookie Monster’ giving her the UFC strawweight champion belt.<\/p>\n

Obviously ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ would have liked to see a trilogy fight between Namajunas and Weili.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that will come down the road, but for now the title is on the line between Esparza and Weili at UFC 281.<\/p>\n

Esparza is coming into the Octagon boasting 6 wins in a row and the title. Weili had an impeccable record prior to her back-to-back defeats against Rose Namajunas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Will you be watching? Do you think Weili Zhang can de-throne the current champion?<\/p>\n

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kamaru Usman is speaking about the possibility of Weili Zhang defeating Carla Esparza at UFC 281. It will be Carla Esparza (19-6 MMA) vs Weili Zhang (22-3 MMA) in the strawweight co-main event at UFC 281 on Saturday November 12, 2022 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The match-up has incited some criticism from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54491,"featured_media":305121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10616,39610,83390,39687],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nKamaru Usman on the possibility of Weili Zhang defeating Carla Esparza at UFC 281: \u201cThat would be sad to watch\u201d | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is speaking about the possibility of Weili Zhang defeating Carla Esparza at UFC 281.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/kamaru-usman-on-the-possibility-of-weili-zhang-defeating-carla-esparza-at-ufc-281-that-would-be-sad-to-watch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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