Carla Esparza

Carla Esparza beat Rose Namajunas for the UFC strawweight title in a fight where very little happened across five rounds.

Ultimately, Esparza, 34, moved to 2-0 over Namajunas -- and it's unclear whether the sport would even allow a third matchup to happen. It was a fight in which neither woman appeared to have any confidence in her skill set. A third had it for Namajunas 48-47.

See the top Twitter reactions to Carla Esparza's title-winning upset of Rose Namajunas in the UFC 274 co-main event.

UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (11-5) and Carla Esparza (19-6) met in a rematch in the co-main event of UFC 274 more than seven years after their first ...

Rose up and turns and reverses and they’re up and Rose lands a right hand. Carla comes in with punches and Rose lands a big right. Rose lands a glancing left and then a right. Carla charges in and Rose swings back and Carla drops a takedown and gets it but Rose is immediately back up. Steps in for a right hand that lands and now Carla shoots a takedown and has the back with Rose sitting. Rose still trying to draw Carla in to counter, but Carla not biting. And Rose lands a left. Rose throws big and misses, and Carla clinches. She gets in on it but Rose shucks it off and we’re back to the dance. Carla now stepping in a little more and lands a left hand with Rose looks to counter. Rose keeping the range and Carla content to stay outside. Carla not closing and Rose staying away.

In the co-main event of UFC 274 we saw a rematch of the very first strawweight title fight in the promotion's history. The champion "Thug"...

Namajunas lands a couple of nice strikes but then Esparza gets in and slams her to the ground. Esparza gets in and gets shrugged off but lands a nice kick to the body. Nice connection from Namajunas and then she lands a 1-2, but it wasn’t super clean. Namajunas lands a nice right hand over the top. Entering the final round at UFC 274 and whoever wins this round likely wins the fight but who the hell knows. Entering the fourth at UFC 274 and I think Esparza might be a couple of rounds ahead. Esparza tries blitzing but catches a counter from the champion. Nothing lands and Namajunas lands a jab. Namajunas attempts to throw her jab, but it’s Esparza that lands a nice left hook. The second starts and Esparza tries with a 1-2, but doesn’t land. Entering the third at UFC 274 and that might have been the most uneventful two rounds of a title fight in history. Esparza tries a combination, but again, well short of the mark.

Carla Esparza lands a punch as Rose Namajunas defends herself during their women's strawweight title bout during UFC 274 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona Saturday, May 7, 2022. Esparza won by decision to become the new women's strawweight ...

Namajunas, fresh off a split-decision win over former champion Weilei Zhang in November, said Esparza was the only fight that made sense, liking weighing merit and revenge. After the first round, each fighter had connected on three strikes. By the end of the fight, Namajunas had outstruck Esparza 30-23, with the advantage coming largely in the final round.

Carla Esparza became a two-time strawweight champion with a split decision win over Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 in arguably one of the least active title ...

Another takedown followed but this time Namajunas escaped and clipped Esparza with a quick right hand but the damage was still minimal. Two judges gave Esparza the fight with scores of 49-46 and 48-47 with Namajunas getting the third scorecard of 48-47 but it wasn’t enough for her to retain the title. Even when Esparza did manage to rush forward for a takedown, Namajunas was quick to scramble free but she really wasn’t doing much in return outside of quickly getting back to her feet.

It wasn't pretty, but Carla Esparza is once again the UFC strawweight queen. Esparza defeated champion Rose Namajunas by split decision at UFC 274 in ...

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Carla Esparza reclaimed the UFC strawweight title by defeating Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 at Footprint Center in Phoenix.

On the other end, Namajunas’ second title reign and three-fight win streak come to an end. Esparza ran up a five-fight win streak over Virna Jandriroba, Alexa Grasso, Michelle Waterson, Marina Rodriguez, and Yan Xiaonan to earn another crack at gold, and walked away with her goal accomplished. The dissenting judge, Eric Colon saw the bout for Namajunas with a score of 48-47. Esparza completed a takedown in the fourth round and took the back of Namajunas for the most significant moment of the fight up to that point. Esparza looked for a takedown early in the second, but Namajunas kept things standing. A few strikes were offered from both, but virtually nothing of significance landed in the first three minutes.

Watch Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza full fight video to see the first encounter between these two strawweight stars.

Esparza’s reign didn’t last long, and Namajunas eventually claimed her place as one of the best in the world by twice capturing the strawweight title. Namajunas’ submission prowess had led her to her first title opportunity in the octagon. The Rose Namajunas vs.

One week before her wedding, Esparza edged strawweight champion Rose Namajunas via split decision in the UFC 274 co-main event inside Footprint Center to win ...

Namajunas, fresh off a split-decision win over former champion Weilei Zhang in November, said Esparza was the only fight that made sense, liking weighing merit and revenge. After the first round, each fighter had connected on three strikes. By the end of the fight, Namajunas had outstruck Esparza 30-23, with the advantage coming largely in the final round.

He wasn't wrong though, as it was one of the worst title fights in UFC history, judges likely struggled to come up with scores. In the end, Esparza won the belt ...

To the judges we go - drop your scorecards— UFC (@ufc) #UFC274 pic.twitter.com/m8wtTqkjri May 8, 2022 BOOOOO!!! Namajunas throws. Namajunas claps. He wasn’t wrong though, as it was one of the worst title fights in UFC history, judges likely struggled to come up with scores. This is supposed to be a post about highlights, but literally nothing significant happened at all, but I guess just watch some random clips from the title bout below. The first strawweight title bout was initially won by Esparza all the way back in 2014, but both women have made drastic improvements since then.

Carla Esparza decided to keep her wedding planned for the same date despite fighting for the UFC strawweight title just one week ahead of the happiest day ...

“I feel that if I win the title, that is just so huge and I would be so excited for that,” Esparza said. You’ve just got to go with stuff and opportunities are going to happen, good things are going to happen for you. “It was tough preparing for that fight because she was and still is a very dangerous opponent. “I would say you’ve just got to roll with the punches in life, even during the whole pandemic, I took fights and I was like whatever. “For me, I want him to think I look beautiful on our wedding day so his opinion and his thoughts were a huge factor of my decision. That meant even with a victory on May 7, she might be walking down the aisle looking like she just went through a five-round war.

Analyzing Saturday's UFC 274 odds and lines between Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza, with MMA picks, tips and predictions.

Esparza generally leaves it up to the judges, with very few stoppages over the years. But, Namajunas is the class of the division and she’ll get it done here. She avenged that loss with a win over Andrade at UFC 251, and she snagged the belt from Zhang Weili with a first-round knockout at UFC 261. Esparza odds and lines, with picks and predictions. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. She defended the strap with a split-decision win over Zhang at UFC 268, too. Esparza has many more takedowns, too, although Namajunas is better in the submission category. It’s tempting to take the big underdog Esparza for a chance to nearly double up, especially since she has a 5-bout win streak. Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Neither will make inroads trying to end it early via their style. Esparza has won 5 straight fights, including a KO/TKO of Yan Xiaonan last time out May 22, 2021. Esparza will want to try and take this fight to the canvas, but Namajunas will keep it upright and try to use her reach advantage.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Esparza's victory over Namajunas at UFC 274. MMA Junkie. The rematch is now! Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza run ...

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