Reactions to Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas putting on a stinker as Esparza wins back strawweight title at UFC 274
Calling it a tactical encounter might be generous, but what can’t be argued is that Carla Esparza is once again the UFC women’s strawweight champion — over 2,000 days since she first won the title — defeating Rose Namajunas in the UFC 274 co-main event.
This was a rematch from the finale of The Ultimate Fighter season 20, which crowned the first UFC strawweight champion. Esparza won the fight via third-round submission.
The first two rounds of the fight were completely quiet, with both women acting generously patient. Both Esparza and Namajunas landed just three strikes each in the opening round, none of them significant. Esparza outstruck Namajunas 10-6 in the second and nearly scored a takedown on the defending champion.
The action seemed to pick up a bit in the third, but not to a point where one woman ran away with the round. Esparza may have taken the round, however, with an early takedown that Namajunas immediately got up from.
Esparza scored a takedown in the fourth round and tried to jump to Namajunas’s back, but Namajunas got her off. Esparza then scored a takedown with just over a minute to go in the round, but Namajunas forced her off and landed a right hand.
Namajunas finally scored a takedown in the closing seconds of the fifth and final round.
Fellow fighters react to Carla Esparza regaining UFC women’s strawweight title with UFC 274 win over Rose Namajunas
No nonsense is allowing a lot of it
— Al Iaquinta???? (@ALIAQUINTA) May 8, 2022
No nonsense is allowing a lot of nonsense right now
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) May 8, 2022
On the bright side Carla is going to look completely fine for her wedding ???? #UFC274
— Jeff Molina (@jmolina_125) May 8, 2022
Feel bad for the judges and commentators for this one #UFC274Live
— Leah Letson UFC (@LeahNidasMMA) May 8, 2022
This wouldn’t happen with open scoring
— Grant KGD Dawson (@dawsongrant20y1) May 8, 2022
that girl title fite was so borin. nobody really wanted it. really disappointing
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) May 8, 2022
Yoel vs Izzy… but chicks
— Max Griffin (@MaxPainGriffin) May 8, 2022
Yeahh! Congrats Carla, but now we have some business to do! Enjoy your belt and wedding because I’ll see you again! September October? Just give me a day and location! A big rematch! Let’s gooo!!???????????? #UFC274 #UFC @ufc
— Marina Rodriguez MMA (@wmmarz) May 8, 2022
Well at least Joanna is coming back
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) May 8, 2022
Namajunas became the first woman in UFC history to become a two-time division champion when she defeated Weili Zhang for the UFC women’s strawweight title at UFC 263. She retained the title in a rematch via a controversial split decision at UFC 268.
Namajunas’s previous reign began with a win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217. She won a rematch at UFC 223 before losing the title to Jessica Andrade at UFC 237.
Esparza had won five straight entering tonight, most recently defeating Yan Xiaonan at UFC Vegas 27 a year ago.
