The co-main event of UFC 281 saw Carla Esparza in her first title defense since regaining the belt over old foe Rose Namajunas. Unfortunately for her, on the other side was former champion Zhang Weili, who proved to just be too much for her. Zhang came out and just appeared to be a different fighter this time around as she looked maybe the best she ever has. If not for Islam just last month, I think this would be getting a lot more credit as one of the more dominant performances by a challenger in awhile. Zhang had no issues from start to finish. Before I get too deep into her fight, let's get out of the intro.
I kind of summarized Zhang's performance above. She was absolutely incredible. I thought Carla was going to have a chance and it really didn't seem that way when it was playing out. Carla was getting to her takedowns a little, but she wasn't able to finish them and Zhang's overall ground game seemed to be much improved. She was scrambling with Carla pretty well considering where her grappling skills were at in the recent past. Having a huge strength and speed certainly helped in some of those spots, but she did seem to be legitimately improved in the grappling. There really wasn't a ton of striking, but it was very clear that Zhang was ahead there. Carla was able to hang a bit better than people were giving her credit for, but she still didn't pose any real threat. Zhang was just too big and too strong. She really seems like a different fighter these days, but I can't quite put a finger on why. If this is the kind of fighter she's going to be from now on, she may be the one to hold onto this belt for awhile.
To transition right off of that, I don't think making the trilogy with Rose is a great idea. Of course it's an option and it isn't the worst idea ever or anything of the sort, but I'm just not super into it. Rose is coming off of an ugly loss to Carla and she's just hard to read. Her mental health has always been a hurdle for her and she didn't really seem like someone who was itching to get back in a cage after the last loss. Maybe the time away has brought her spark back and she'll be ready to go, but I don't know if there's a huge demand for her now. The last fight and the Pat Barry interview with Ariel Helwani soon after seems to have public perception of her as low as it's been in a long time. I just don't think her last loss looking the way it did can allow for an immediate title shot, regardless of if she has wins over Zhang or not. Amanda Lemos has to be the leader in the clubhouse for the next title shot in my opinion. She's coming off of a huge win over Marina Rodriguez, who was pretty clearly the next number one contender. Jessica Andrade is also kind of lurking. She has the win over Lemos, but she's booked against Lauren Murphy up a weight class next, so it doesn't seem like strawweight is her priority right now. The final option that I saw someone people talking about is a potential shot at double champ status against Valentina Shevchenko. I think that has more to do with Valentina not having any options than Zhang really needing a shot at a second title, but it's also not the worst idea ever. I really think the Lemos fight is the most reasonable, but I wouldn't blame the UFC for going back to the well with Rose either. I don't think she's really earned it, but her popularity can't completed be ignored. It would be Lemos if I was making the call though.
Carla Esparza didn't necessarily look bad, she was just way overmatched. Everyone knew she was going to have a hard time if the fight was standing and she did. At the same time, she wasn't getting outclassed there. She was limiting exchanges pretty well and wasn't taking a ton of damage either. When she got to her takedowns, she really wasn't able to finish and she was getting out scrambled by Zhang. I think that really had more to do with Zhang's strength and speed than her being an equivalent grappler, but it all works out the same. She got caught in a weird position at the end and after she lost control of the wrist, there's really nothing she could do. Zhang had the choke and she was forced to tap. I'm glad this isn't the end for Carla because I believe she could eventually work her way back to a title. She's still very good and brings a unique style that is hard to stop. This just was a bad matchup on the wrong night for her.
Finding a next opponent for Carla is a bit strange since she's already fought so many of the top contenders. She has multiple wins over Rose wins over both Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan. If for some reason Lemos didn't get the next title shot, that would be an interesting matchup to make, but I don't think it's likely. A Mackenzie Dern fight would actually be very interesting as the style mechanics of that fight would play right into each other. Dern has had a hard time finding her footing and putting her in a fight against the number one ranked contender would be a bit weird, but the matchup really seems perfect. That sounds like the highest profile matchup that either one could get right now as well, so that counts for something. Other than that, Jessica Andrade could be available, but I don't think anyone is really asking for that fight. I think I really talked myself into wanting the Dern fight for Carla though. That one has the potential to be really fun and I'm all in now.
What did you guys think? Did the fight meet your expectations? Who do you want to see them fight next? Leave any and all thoughts below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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