Everyone would love a 10-second knockout or a quick submission, but that’s not often how these things go, especially not at the championship level. Instead, it’s usually the competitor that has crafted the better game plan and did the better job of executing things inside the Octagon that comes away with their hand raised and the gold around their waist.
So, how does either woman get it done on Saturday night?
Marshall: I don’t think that Weili will have the same game plan that Rose had where the fight stays on the feet a lot and nothing happened. Weili is going to come to fight, and so her path to victory is to keep it on the feet and to pin Carla’s back to the fence.
If she has Carla walking that line of the Octagon, it’s going to be very difficult for Carla to start to get off with her takedowns and her striking; any of it. Weili has to be the aggressor, and I know she’s been working a lot on her wrestling to be able to defend that.
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Obviously, Carla’s is to get Weili down and ride out a 25-minute — I hate to say it — ridiculously boring decision.
Nicksick: For Carla, if the crowd is booing, she’s winning. She’s got to stay on the same movement that she had with Rose — she can’t stay in front of Weili — and she’s got to do a lot against the cage to make Weili pummel and work, but then get down on the legs to wrestle.
She’s going to have to mind her Ps and Qs and make this a boring, ugly fight if I’m being honest.
On the other side, Weili is going to have to sprawl-and-brawl most of this fight because I know Esparza is not going to engage her in the kind if fight that she wants. Staying focused is going to be very key for Weili in this fight because if she chases after things, that’s what Esparza wants for easy takedowns.
She also has to wrestle three seconds longer this fight, meaning when Carla gets in on a takedown — let’s say you defend or you sprawl or you’re able to get her off your legs, it’s the re-shot you have to worry about, so the moment you get her redirected or defend the takedown, you’re going to have to wrestle three seconds longer than you actually think because Carla is probably trying to chain something together or re-shoot right away.
I think this is a bit of a softball win for Weili if she can do all the right things and not get over-exerted on trying to knock this girl out; just take your time, and you’ll find your shot.
