Carla Esparza meets Livinha Souza at UFC Fort Lauderdale

Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza will look to rebound from a two-fight skid against the surging Livinha Souza in April. Two former champions will go head to head at the UFC’s return to Florida.
Carla Esparza, the inaugural UFC…

Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza will look to rebound from a two-fight skid against the surging Livinha Souza in April.

Two former champions will go head to head at the UFC’s return to Florida.

Carla Esparza, the inaugural UFC strawweight titleholder, meets Livinha Souza, a former Invicta FC strawweight champ, at UFC on ESPN 3 on April 27 in Sunrise, Florida, just outside of Fort Lauderdale. Combate reported the pairing this past weekend.

Esparza is currently riding a two-fight skid, with a one-sided submission loss to rising contender Tatiana Suarez at UFC 228 last September and a split decision defeat to former title challenger Claudia Gadelha at UFC 225 last June. Her last win was a decision over Cynthia Calvillo at the end of 2017.

Souza signed with the UFC last year and is thus far undefeated in her Octagon career. She made her debut and quickly submitted Alex Chambers with a guillotine at UFC Sao Paulo last September. The Brazilian followed that win up with a split decision over newcomer Sarah Frota at UFC Fortaleza earlier this month.

Souza won the Invicta FC belt in 2015, but lost it to current UFC fighter Angela Hill in 2016. She won twice more in the women’s-only promotion before joining the UFC. Souza is riding a four-fight winning streak.

UFC Fort Lauderdale takes place at BB&T Center. A middleweight bout between Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa was reported last month as the event’s headliner, but it has not been made official by the UFC as of yet.