After one of the most unusual UFC title fights, Dana White doesn’t want to see Carla Esparza vs. Rose Namajunas 3 anytime soon.
Esparza defeated Namajunas via split decision in the UFC 274 co-headliner. Despite the high anticipation surrounding the rematch that was years in the making, the fight played out as one of the biggest duds in the promotion’s history.
Esparza and Namajunas failed to dish out much output throughout the fight. Outside of a few takedowns from Esparza, and a few timely strikes from Namajunas, the Footprint Center was extremely restless about the pace of the fight.
During his UFC 274 post-fight press conference, White addressed what’s next for Esparza, Namajunas, and the strawweight title picture.
“Well, I don’t think anybody’s clamoring for that rematch,” White said of Esparza vs. Namajunas. “We’ll have to figure something else out. Listen, Rose is one of the best. She’s always gonna be there. We’ll see what happens.”
White went on to state that the upcoming rematch between Zhang Weili and Joanna J?drzejczyk at UFC 275 could determine the next title challenger for Esparza.
The Esparza vs. Namajunas fight was so underwhelming that the commentary team of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan, and Daniel Cormier seemed to talk more about other past lackluster UFC fights than the co-main event itself.
As boos rained down on Esparza and Namajunas after the decision was read, Esparza explained that she didn’t want to take a reckless approach when matched up with Namajunas’ stand-up game. Despite her explanation, the Phoenix, AZ crowd was anything but forgiving.
Namajunas felt she won the fight, and that the fans were solely booing Esparza and not her during the fight.
Esparza is now 2-0 against Namajunas after defeating her for the then-vacant strawweight title at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale in 2014. She went on to lose the belt to Jedrzejczyk in her first title defense.
Before the latest loss to Esparza, Namajunas earned back-to-back wins over Weili last year, including a head-kick knockout at UFC 261.
Who do you want to see challenge Carla Esparza for the next strawweight title fight?
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