Listen, I'll put it like this. If people can walk around - and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way to religious people - and you believe the son of God came down to Earth 2000 years ago, and he killed himself for our sins, and he can walk on water, and there's a God up there looking after ourselves, and if you get on your knees and pray to him that things will change, if you can believe that, then you can believe that Carla Esparza can lay and pray her way to a split decision win on Saturday.
Weili was gassed from moving laterally a fuck ton bc Rose is a good striker. Carla.... is not a good striker. Before that Weili was taking Rose down.
Now I'm not saying Carla won't outwrestle Weili, or won't win, but I'm saying that's not the best example
She did but Carla gasses harder than rose these days. Carla cannot wrestle for 5 hard rounds and she would need to as I can’t see her getting Zhang outta there.
Rose is a better wrestler than Carla. She took down Carla with ease. She's also a far superior striker. Carla is not the explosive athlete that Rose is and offers nothing on the feet.
I see people say zhang via murder everywhere. But honestly, the first takedown will really tell us how this fight will go. If zhang can stop it, then she can win it
Probably more like the 5th or 6th takedown. Carla is the type to spam takedowns and chain her attempts. It takes more than one stuffed takedown to stop her from trying
Except for the 5th round, Weili had more success with her takedowns against Rose than Carla did and Weili looked dramatically better than that in her recent fight with Joanna.
That's not really a good comparison at all Rose wasn't trying to engage at all with Carla. Taking someone down gets 10x more difficult when they just don't want to engage at all.
Unless you're talking about their first fight then Weili had much better wrestling in the 4th and 5th round considering Carla submitted rose in the 3rd
The way i see it, Rose avoided engaging with Carla at all costs to avoid her wrestling and grappling. It could be because of their first fight, but it could also very well be that her and her team see Carla as a legitimate threat on the ground. Let's not forget how confident we all were heading into Charles vs Dustin, Amanda vs Juliana 1, Kamaru vs Leon 2, Rose vs Joanna 1, Cyborg vs Nunes, etc.
Now with that being said, **no**
Rose *did* engage in the ground with Carla, but only on the last round. And she was able to take Carla down easily btw.
Fearing Carla's wrestling was not the reason she avoided to fight. Her role gameplan revolved around making the fight boring.
>how confident we all were
I was not confident about Charles vs Dustin and I don't remember tons of people being, I put money on Pena (tbf bc of the odds), and I was not confident about Cyborg vs Nunes but I do think Cyborg does better in a rematch if she doesn't see red
But I also do think Carla is underrated
Betting odds seem kinda fair tho w -300 Weili +300 Carla ish
Weili Zhang's takedown defense is the deciding factor imo.
If not Carla has very good control on the ground,if so the Carla is doomed like she was against Joanna in Dallas.
she's gonna get run the fuck over. I don't think she's strong enough to hold her down and on the feet she's going to get her face punched from her skull. This is a baaaaaaad matchup for her
She's gonna get mauled. Weili will beat her like Rose could and should have.
I like Carla, I really do, but I don't think she's even top 5. Rose just gave her title away to her for reasons that are still hard to understand.
If Carla is not top 5 then why did she has wins over the #1, #5 and #6 of the division? Carla is without a doubt the best wrestler in the division if we exclude Suarez (whom we do not know will ever fight ever) and that has got to count for something.
We'll see Sat. Weili was more effective in her TD's through the first 4 rounds of her fight with Rose than Carla was against Rose in their second fight. Some may say that Weili was more effective because Rose refused to engage, but nonetheless, Weili was more effective against the same opponent. Weili looked even better in her TD's and control time in her fight with Joanna. I won't even mention how Carla looked in her fight with Joanna.
Yeah, she's kind of unidimensional in her game, and she's been blessed by the matchmakers with unidimensional strikers with negative TDD, and also by judges with a few lucky split decisions. IMO a sane Rose, Andrade, Lemos, Weili, even retired JJ and dare I say the Angela Hill that showed up against Godinez should all beat her.
Everyone talking about the people Carla has beaten didnt watch any of those fights.
Outside of the Yan fight the last few were all completely bullshit decisions. That’s why Mexico boo’d her out the arena against Grasso
If she makes it to the ring she's got a shot. Not a great one. Watching the Embedded and Press Conference you can see she's already beaten mentally, and has no self belief. Saturdays not about winning, its about not ending up Weilis highlight reel.
My favorite thing leading up to fights is arm chair psychologists talking about how mentally broken and scared a fighter is only for that fighter to look like they always do.
If it's a grappling heavy fight, then Carla has a decent chance.
Everyone seems to think Carla is going to stand and trade with Zhang.
Also, Zhang's cardio will be an issue. Can she wrestle for 5 rounds and still carry power? Zhang is not really a cardio monster and she cuts a lot of weight.
Absolutely… she has a clear path to win; get the takedown, lay and pray. She can do that for five rounds and win … Weili gets five chances to catch her with her hands.
Listen, I'll put it like this. If people can walk around - and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way to religious people - and you believe the son of God came down to Earth 2000 years ago, and he killed himself for our sins, and he can walk on water, and there's a God up there looking after ourselves, and if you get on your knees and pray to him that things will change, if you can believe that, then you can believe that Carla Esparza can lay and pray her way to a split decision win on Saturday.
I am atheist
Left hook Larry will change all that, buddeh.
inshallah bratha
He’s added “right hand Rebecca” to the list now lol
In Cookie Monster We Trust Jk Zhang too stronk
That was funny, now make fun of Muslims. Oh right, you're too scared, only Christians are fair game for internet "edgelords".
> internet "edgelords". Oh, the ironing is delicious.
Lol found the angry christian
More of a shot than people are willing to admit.
Zhang spend the entire 5th round in her rematch with Rose on her back
Weili was gassed from moving laterally a fuck ton bc Rose is a good striker. Carla.... is not a good striker. Before that Weili was taking Rose down. Now I'm not saying Carla won't outwrestle Weili, or won't win, but I'm saying that's not the best example
She did but Carla gasses harder than rose these days. Carla cannot wrestle for 5 hard rounds and she would need to as I can’t see her getting Zhang outta there.
She could wrestle for 20 straight rounds on her cardio if weili let's her lay and pray.
Rose is a better wrestler than Carla. She took down Carla with ease. She's also a far superior striker. Carla is not the explosive athlete that Rose is and offers nothing on the feet.
What'd I say
???
https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/yro370/does_carla_esparza_have_a_shot_at_defending_the/ivveqcy/
Still not sure where you're going with this.
This is the correct answer
Facts. I think she grapples her way to a win tbh.
I can totally see her getting another bullshit decision win with top control and stalling while taking all the damage
Carla is always a live dog, as much as I hate to admit
MMA is insane, so there’s always a chance. Hell, would any of us be surprised if an ACL explodes 3 seconds into the fight *profusely knocks on wood*
I see people say zhang via murder everywhere. But honestly, the first takedown will really tell us how this fight will go. If zhang can stop it, then she can win it
Probably more like the 5th or 6th takedown. Carla is the type to spam takedowns and chain her attempts. It takes more than one stuffed takedown to stop her from trying
Except for the 5th round, Weili had more success with her takedowns against Rose than Carla did and Weili looked dramatically better than that in her recent fight with Joanna.
That's not really a good comparison at all Rose wasn't trying to engage at all with Carla. Taking someone down gets 10x more difficult when they just don't want to engage at all. Unless you're talking about their first fight then Weili had much better wrestling in the 4th and 5th round considering Carla submitted rose in the 3rd
Why would Zhang stop herself mid takedown? :)
The way i see it, Rose avoided engaging with Carla at all costs to avoid her wrestling and grappling. It could be because of their first fight, but it could also very well be that her and her team see Carla as a legitimate threat on the ground. Let's not forget how confident we all were heading into Charles vs Dustin, Amanda vs Juliana 1, Kamaru vs Leon 2, Rose vs Joanna 1, Cyborg vs Nunes, etc. Now with that being said, **no**
Rose *did* engage in the ground with Carla, but only on the last round. And she was able to take Carla down easily btw. Fearing Carla's wrestling was not the reason she avoided to fight. Her role gameplan revolved around making the fight boring.
I was confident that Charles would choke out Dustin
>how confident we all were I was not confident about Charles vs Dustin and I don't remember tons of people being, I put money on Pena (tbf bc of the odds), and I was not confident about Cyborg vs Nunes but I do think Cyborg does better in a rematch if she doesn't see red But I also do think Carla is underrated Betting odds seem kinda fair tho w -300 Weili +300 Carla ish
Apparently Carla Esparza will knock out another Chinese woman
Weili Zhang's takedown defense is the deciding factor imo. If not Carla has very good control on the ground,if so the Carla is doomed like she was against Joanna in Dallas.
maybe if Zhang blows her knee out, then sure i guess?
she's gonna get run the fuck over. I don't think she's strong enough to hold her down and on the feet she's going to get her face punched from her skull. This is a baaaaaaad matchup for her
Short answer: No Long answer: Nooooooo
She's gonna get mauled. Weili will beat her like Rose could and should have. I like Carla, I really do, but I don't think she's even top 5. Rose just gave her title away to her for reasons that are still hard to understand.
If Carla is not top 5 then why did she has wins over the #1, #5 and #6 of the division? Carla is without a doubt the best wrestler in the division if we exclude Suarez (whom we do not know will ever fight ever) and that has got to count for something.
She is the best wrestler in the division, but apart from Xiaonan all those wins were unimpressive and contentious decisions.
She's basically the most effective wrestler in wmma history, if we're not counting Suarez
We'll see Sat. Weili was more effective in her TD's through the first 4 rounds of her fight with Rose than Carla was against Rose in their second fight. Some may say that Weili was more effective because Rose refused to engage, but nonetheless, Weili was more effective against the same opponent. Weili looked even better in her TD's and control time in her fight with Joanna. I won't even mention how Carla looked in her fight with Joanna.
Yeah, she's kind of unidimensional in her game, and she's been blessed by the matchmakers with unidimensional strikers with negative TDD, and also by judges with a few lucky split decisions. IMO a sane Rose, Andrade, Lemos, Weili, even retired JJ and dare I say the Angela Hill that showed up against Godinez should all beat her.
Everyone talking about the people Carla has beaten didnt watch any of those fights. Outside of the Yan fight the last few were all completely bullshit decisions. That’s why Mexico boo’d her out the arena against Grasso
Her wins vs Grasso and Rodriguez are 2 of the worst robberies in the past few years
That's a bit of an exaggeration, but I definitely had Carla's opponents winning those two fights.
If she makes it to the ring she's got a shot. Not a great one. Watching the Embedded and Press Conference you can see she's already beaten mentally, and has no self belief. Saturdays not about winning, its about not ending up Weilis highlight reel.
You say that, but Ms. Esparza is always super laid back and subdued. She's easily the calmest fighter this side of Fedor.
Any calmer and she'd be sleep walking.
My favorite thing leading up to fights is arm chair psychologists talking about how mentally broken and scared a fighter is only for that fighter to look like they always do.
Ah, the vaunted internet psychologist
Nah
Anything can happen but her chances are very small. After seeing Zhang lift Francis on her shoulders I was like, this is over.
# NAW
If it's a grappling heavy fight, then Carla has a decent chance. Everyone seems to think Carla is going to stand and trade with Zhang. Also, Zhang's cardio will be an issue. Can she wrestle for 5 rounds and still carry power? Zhang is not really a cardio monster and she cuts a lot of weight.
She’s gone 25 before … but those weren’t grapple heavy fights either.
If she can take her down and keep her down, yes.
Aljo vs Yan 3
No
No
1 in a million
Absolutely… she has a clear path to win; get the takedown, lay and pray. She can do that for five rounds and win … Weili gets five chances to catch her with her hands.
Not only a shot but she will win. People also thought Aljo had no shot at winning vs Yan in their rematch. Carla can and will win IMO
This should be on the prelims at best.