The Women’s strawweight championship title is up for grabs at UFC 274 as two veterans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship enter the octagon in a rematch of the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion in The Ultimate Fighter 20 finale. In that historic match, Namajunas lost the fight to a rear-naked choke that saw Esparza crowned the inaugural champion.
Bet on Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza with 1xBetStill grating from that loss, Namajunas who has become a two-time champion since that loss said recently:
Bet on Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza with 1xBetI want to punch her in the face, take her back, and choke her out. Just like the last time. That last fight seems like forever ago. We’ve both improved a lot, and I know I am way better at what I do.
Fight Preview
After tapping out in her first match against Esparza, Lithuanian-American Namajunas went on to make a career for herself eventually becoming a two-time strawweight champion and ranked Number 3 in UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings. Describing herself as a Christian and anti-communist, Namajunas courted controversy over her comments against communism in the lead up to her last fight against Chinese Zhang Weili at UFC 268 last December. The rematch with the Chinese fighter ended in a split decision victory for Namajunas as she defended her title.
After submitting Namajunas with a rear-naked choke to win the title of inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion, Carla Esparza promptly lost the title in her first defence. The American was also once the Invicta Women’s Strawweight champion. She is currently ranked Number 8 in UFC women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Esparza has waited for 8 years for another shot at the strawweight title. In that time her opponent has been champion twice. Highly rated at the time she was champion, the gap between the two fighters in that bout in 2014 was described by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports thus:
Namajunas tapped at 1:26 of the third round, but the fight was over long before that. Esparza was too strong, too smart and simply too good for the far less experienced Namajunas.
Venue, time and where to watch
- Venue: Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
- Date: Saturday, May 7
- Main card: 8pm ET / 5pm PT
- Where to watch: ESPN+ PPV
Tale of the tape
| Namajunas | Esparza | |
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 29 June, 1992 | 10 October, 1987 |
| Height | 5'5" (165cm) | 5'1" (155cm) |
| Reach | 65.0" (165cm) | 63.0" (160cm) |
| Streaks | 3 | 5 |
| Record | 11-4-0 (Win-Loss-Draw) | 118-6-0 (Win-Loss-Draw) |
Odds
Rose Namajunas is the favourite at 1.47. Betting for the challenger Carla Esparza to win in 3-way is priced at 2.75 while a draw goes for 81.
KO, TKO, DQ or submission is priced at 3.00 for Namajunas and 7.50 for Esparza.
A total over 2.5 is 1.21 while a total over 3.5 goes for 1.36
Odds from 1Xbet, 22Bet and Bet365. Check them for more options on the rematch
Bet on Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza with 1xBet