Carla Esparza News

Harry Kettle - November 22, 2022

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.

Susan Cox - November 14, 2022

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.

Cole Shelton - November 14, 2022

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. Also on the main card was a lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler.

Chris Taylor - November 12, 2022

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 over Yan Xiaonan, Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson and Alexa Grasso.

Chris Taylor - November 12, 2022

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.

Josh Evanoff - November 11, 2022

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 betting favorite.

Cole Shelton - November 10, 2022

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, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro-fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros expect Weili to reclaim her strawweight title and even some expect her to finish Esparza.

Andrew Whitelaw - November 9, 2022

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 Rose Namajunas to win the belt in 2014. But she failed to defend it after getting knocked out by Joanna Jędrzejczyk in her first title defence.

Josh Evanoff - November 3, 2022

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.

Josh Evanoff - August 30, 2022

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.

Harry Kettle - August 19, 2022

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 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’.

Susan Cox - August 18, 2022

Carla Esparza in set to defend her strawweight title against Weili Zhang at UFC 281. Esparaza took to ‘Twitter‘ this morning announcing the bout:

Josh Evanoff - July 8, 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 she defeated ‘Thug Rose’ by a split decision.

Harry Kettle - June 29, 2022

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, her joy didn’t last long as just three months later, she was beaten by Joanna Jedrzejczyk as the Polish sensation went on to become one of the all-time greats in the division.

Josh Evanoff - June 21, 2022

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 in UFC history.

Josh Evanoff - June 15, 2022

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 Rose’ was also blasted as one of the worst fights in UFC history.

Harry Kettle - June 13, 2022

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 while Jedrzejczyk had a few nice moments, the evening belonged to Zhang as a spinning back fist was enough to put a definitive end to their rivalry.

Fernando Quiles - June 12, 2022

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.