- Carla Esparza has opened as the betting underdog in her first defense of the UFC women’s strawweight title.
- Esparza announced on social media that she will be facing former champion, Weili Zhang, at UFC 281.
- UFC 281 on November 12, 2022, will be held at the Madison Square Garden and headlined by Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira.
Carla Esparza’s first defense of the UFC women’s strawweight title against former champion Weili Zhang is a done deal for UFC 281.
The news was announced by MMAFighting’s Damon Martin and confirmed by Esparza in a social media post.
Carla Esparza announced on social media she will make her first title defense against Zhang Weili in NYC 🏆 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/M1D7BrqJh0
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 18, 2022
According to the best UFC betting sites, Cookie Monster will defend her belt the way she won it – as the betting underdog.
Esparza Underdog in First Title Defense
UFC 281 Opening Odds:
Carla Esparza (+265)
Weili Zhang (-345) https://t.co/4zZqF2FOev #UFC281— FightOdds.io (@FightOdds_io) August 19, 2022
It can be recalled that Esparza opened at +185 odds when she challenged Rose Namajunas for the title at UFC 274. The 34-year-old from Torrance, California closed as the +200 underdog when she beat Namajunas via split decision to become a two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion. Against Zhang, she will be facing bigger odds.
Esparza opened at +130 odds when the bout against Zhang was first floated. The odds have reopened after the fight was made official and according to the top UFC betting site, the current champion is now the +265 bottom dog, and Zhang is a heavy -345 betting favorite to recapture the belt.
This marks Esparza’s second-longest opening odds ever in the UFC, with only her UFC 225 bout with Claudia Gadelha in 2018 the only time she opened with longer odds at +285. The longest opening odds of Esparza’s career was when she was listed at +320 odds when she fought Megumi Fujii at Bellator 24 in 2010. Esparza lost both bouts.
Zhang Challenges Esparza for Gold
Zhang challenges Esparza for gold at UFC 281 https://t.co/AljB5T539x via @BloodyElbow
— MMA Alley (@MMAAlley) August 18, 2022
Meanwhile, Zhang will challenge Esparza for gold two fights after losing her last bout for the same belt. The 33-year-old from Hebei, China lost to Rose Namajunas via split decision in her first attempt to recapture her old belt at UFC 268 in November 2021. She bounced back with a spectacular spinning back fist knockout win over former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275 last June 11th to put herself in line to fight for the title for the third time in her last four bouts.
Zhang captured the UFC women’s strawweight gold by defeating Jessica Andrade as the +170 betting underdog. That bout stands as the only time in Magnum’s UFC career where she has opened and closed as the betting underdog. After beating Andrade, she successfully defended the belt with a Fight of the Year candidate against Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248.
The Chinese mixed martial artist was upset by Namajunas as the -200 favorite in their first meeting at UFC 261 in a fight where Zhang suffered the first knockout loss of her career. Namajunas repeated over Zhang in their rematch, once again upending her favored rival who closed at -130 odds.
Latest UFC 281 Fight Card
Latest UFC 281 Fight Card, PPV Lineup https://t.co/ieDiDsSWeE
— The MMA Show (@mma_show) August 16, 2022
The Esparza vs Zhang bout was just one of the four bouts recently added to the UFC 281 Fight card. Before last Saturday’s UFC 278, the UFC also announced a light heavyweight bout between former title challenger Dominick Reyes and the surging Ryan Spann. A 125-pound showdown between Erin Blanchfield and Molly McCann was also revealed as was a 145-pound content between Mike Trizano and Seungwoo Choi. The betting odds for the other bouts are not out yet but when they go live, we’ll let you know right away.
UFC 281 on November 6th at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden will be headlined by the much-awaited showdown between former kickboxing rivals Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira for the UFC middleweight title. Adesanya opened as the -180 betting favorite to beat Pereira (+150) on the BetOnline App.
A high-profile lightweight showdown between former interim champion Dustin Poirier and multiple-time Bellator 155-pound champion Michael Chandler has also been previously booked for UFC 281. Poirier opened as the -200 favorite with Chandler coming back at +170 odds. That bout was believed to be the co-main event when it was booked but has been pushed back with Esparza vs Zhang taking that billing.
