Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2022-11-12, great mma bout: Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang gets three stars (UFC Performance of the Night – take a look at our ranking of the Best Mma Fights of 2022).
Zhang vs Esparza is scheduled to take place Saturday, November 12th, at the Madison Square Garden in New York (USA), in a 5-round strawweight (115 lbs, 52 kg) bout; it is valid for the UFC women’s strawweight championship title (Esparza’s first defense) and it is on the undercard of Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira – UFC 281. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Carla Esparza record
The former Invicta FC and current Ufc champ Carla Esparza entered this fight with a pro mma record of 19-6-0 (42% finishing rate) and she is ranked as the No.1 women’s strawweight in the world.
She lost two consecutive fights in 2018, with Claudia Gadelha and Tatiana Suarez, but then she has won six bouts defeating Marina Rodriguez (Marina Rodriguez vs Carla Esparza), Yan Xiaonan (Xiaonan Yan vs Carla Esparza) and Rose Namajunas in her last three (Rose Namajunas vs Carla Esparza 2).
Weili Zhang record
Her opponent, the former Ufc champion Weili Zhang, has a record of 22-3-0 (82% finishing rate) and she entered as the No.3 in the women’s strawweight division.
She lost two consecutive fights in 2021, both against Rose Namajunas (4-stars fight, Weili Zhang vs Rose Namajunas I and Rose Namajunas vs Weili Zhang II), but then she came back to win with Joanna Jedrzejczyk in June 2022 (Weili Zhang vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk 2).
Among the best fights of Zhang we suggest also these two, both rated with four stars:
- Jessica Andrade vs Weili Zhang (also ranked in the top 10 Users’ mma Fights of the Year 2019)
- Zhang Weili vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk I
Zhang’s next fight: Weili Zhang vs Amanda Lemos
Fight card
Here is the UFC 281 full fight card (we are going to update it after the weigh-in):
MAIN CARD (live on PPV)
Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira
Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang
Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler
Frankie Edgar vs Chris Gutierrez
Dan Hooker vs Claudio Puelles
PRELIMINARY CARD (live on ESPNews / ESPN+)
Renato Moicano Carneiro vs Brad Riddell
Ryan Spann vs Dominick Reyes
Erin Blanchfield vs Molly McCann
Wellington Turman vs Andre Petroski
EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD (live on ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Matt Frevola vs Ottman Azaitar
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Silvana Gomez Juarez
Seung Woo Choi vs Michael Trizano
Montel Jackson vs Julio Arce
Nicolae Negumereanu vs Carlos Ulberg
Countdown – Video preview
Watch the official video of the full episode of UFC 281 countdown Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang, a documentary to know better the life of both fighters and how they prepare for their bout.
Full fight video / highlights
Here we are going to post a selection of the best videos about the bout Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang as soon as the match ends. If you have seen the full fight you can rate it at the bottom of this post. (All videos are hosted on free video platforms such as Youtube, Dailymotion, Facebook, etc. and not uploaded by AllTheBestFights.com)
Official video
Portuguese
Official highlights – spanish
Result
Who won Esparza vs Zhang fight?
Weili Zhang defeated Carla Esparza via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:05, round 2.
Post-fight interview
Listen the words of the winner or the two fighters after their bout, here is the UFC 281 post-fight octagon interview of Carla Esparza and Weili Zhang.
