Carla Esparza to Defend Strawweight Crown at UFC 281 Against Zhang Weili

UFC
281 seemingly now has a co-main occasion, as reigning girls’s
strawweight champion Carla
Esparza will defend towards former division ruler Zhang Weili
at Madison Sq. Backyard on Nov. 12.

Esparza, 19-6, revealed the pairing on her verified Instagram
account Thursday afternoon. The bout has not been confirmed by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship as of publication time.

Esparza just lately regained the strawweight title for a second time
by defeating Rose
Namajunas at UFC 274 by way of break up choice, in what was extensively
thought of one of many dullest title fights in blended martial arts
historical past. Esparza prolonged her profitable streak to 6 with the
crown-clinching efficiency.

Weili, in the meantime, dispatched of strawweight legend and long-time
champion Joanna
Jedrzejczyk in spectacular trend at UFC 276 with a spinning
back-fist in Spherical 2. Previous to that, Weili had misplaced two title
fights towards Namajunas. Esparza initially introduced that she
wished to defend the title in 2023 on account of damage, however is seemingly
good to go for the tip of the yr.

UFC 281 will probably be headlined by a middleweight title struggle pitting
Israel
Adesanya towards Alex
Pereira; the pair has already met twice below kickboxing guidelines,
with the Brazilian taking each contests. “Poatan” received by way of choice
in 2016 and left the Nigerian-born New Zealander unconscious in
2017.