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Carla Esparza is once again the UFC women’s strawweight champion, earning a split decision win over Rose Namajunas on Saturday night.
The 115-pound championship was on the line during the UFC 274 co-main event on May 7 at the Footprint Center in Pheonix, Arizona. And although Esparza left the arena as champion, the contest was massively disappointing to fight fans.
There was very little engagement during the five-round fight, with both fighters landing minimal strikes. The judges granted the win to “Cookie Monster,” however, scoring it 47-48, 49-46 and 48-47 for Esparza, likely due to her wrestling.
The “Cookie Monster” hasn’t held UFC gold since her loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015. The inaugural champion is now 2-0 over Namajunas and she boasts a professional mixed martial arts record of 19-6. She also improved her win streak to six.
With the defeat, Namajunas lost her strawweight belt for the second time. Her three-fight victory streak was ended by Esparza and her record fell to 11-5.
Twitter Reacts to the Women’s Strawweight Championship Clash
Take a look at some of the biggest reactions from the MMA community:
Former UFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo tweeted: “I feel like im watching a capoeira match. Jesus this is the worst fight ever!”
Reigning UFC 135-pound champion Aljamain Sterling wrote: “I don’t wanna hear no one talking shit about my fight! #GiveMeYourTears”
Former multiple-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen tweeted after the second round: “Even. The psychology of the judge would be turmoil within the first round, and they will correct that turmoil by doing the exact opposite for the second. Mark my words every single judge has this one to one.”
FanSided’s Amy Kaplan tweeted: “This fight is truly embarrassing.”
MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn wrote: “No matter how you slice it, this is a rough fight to watch. Let’s just all be thankful Charles Oliveira’s weight miss didn’t lead to a cancellation of the fight and this was our show-closer.”
Reactions to the Co-Main Event Continue
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto tweeted: “I’ve got it 49-47 for Rose Namajunas but who knows? Spin the wheel. Flip the coin. Literally every scorecard is right. Every scorecard is wrong.”
MMA bettor Luca Fury tweeted: “Seemed like most scored it for Rose Namajunas. She was able to defend the takedowns + keep the fight standing. But she just wouldn’t throw strikes vs a significantly worse striker. I agree with others, absolutely baffling performance by Rose. Can’t complain about scores.”
“No one can call robbery in Namajunas vs Esparza 2,” Fury continued. “That said, if they fought a third time, I would favor Rose despite her being 0-2 vs Carla now.”
MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura wrote: “Nothing happened. Rose Namajunas can’t be upset at the result. It could’ve gone either way.”
“Congrats to the new champion Carla Esparza,” Segura continued. “Boring fight aside, she went 5-0 to be there tonight. Got to respect that. Also, part of the reason why she won the fight was because Namajunas felt so threatened by her wrestling that she didn’t engage.”
Severe MMA’s Sean Sheehan tweeted: “NEVER make this fight again.”
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