It was far from a barn burner in the UFC 274 co-main event, but after 25 minutes, Carla Esparza repeated her 2014 victory over Rose Namajunas, regaining the UFC strawweight title in the process via split decision.
Scores were 49-46, 48-47, 47-48 for Esparza, now 20-6. Namajunas falls to 12-5.
It was a war of nerves in the opening frame, with both fighters cautious as they looked for an opening to exploit, but neither pressed the action.
Esparza made her first move early in round two, but her takedown attempt was thwarted by Namajunas, marking the only significant action in another round that didn’t make the crowd too happy.
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Namajunas began firing off more strikes to begin round three, Esparza responding with a brief takedown that the champion rose from immediately. What followed was a repeat of the first two rounds, as there were no sustained offensive attacks from either fighter.
In the second minute of round four, Esparza again got a takedown, but Namajunas scrambled back to her feet. There was little follow-up aggression from the champion, though, and she was grounded again with under 90 seconds to go. This time, Namajunas landed a right hand on the way up, but Esparza took it well.
There were a few exchanges in the fifth, each fighter getting a shot or two in, but there was still no sustained action, and the crowd let them know about it. Namajunas did end the bout with a takedown in the final seconds, but it was not enough to save her title.
VOTERS – James Cooney, Thomas Gerbasi, Christoph Goessing, E. Spencer Kyte, Steve Latrell, Zac Pacleb, Gavin Porter
