Tomás Yelmini
Title fights are the additional spice of mixed martial arts billboards. In this case, the UFC 281 evening features not one but two headlining bouts, including Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang for the women’s strawweight crown.
The attractive proposal will take place on a stage that rises to the occasion, the legendary Madison Square Garden, located in New York’s Big Apple. This headline fight adds to a schedule that will also feature Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira for the middleweight title, plus another three duels in the main card and nine more in the preliminaries.
At JefeBet, we bring you the odds, betting preview, and predictions for this women’s strawweight title clash between Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang.
Betting Preview for UFC 281 Featuring Carla Esparza vs Weili Zhang on Saturday, November 12, 2022
- Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
- When: Saturday, November 12, 2022, at 7 PM ET
- Odds: Carla Esparza (+310) vs Weili Zhang (-420)
Odds provided by Unibet.
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Carla Esparza
- Odds: +310
- Record: 20-6-0
- Age: 35
- Height: 1,55 m
- Weight: 52 kg
- Reach: 160 cm
Carla Esparza was born in Terrence, California, and at 35 years old, she enjoys the featherweight title she won in May of this year at UFC 274 in Phoenix. There, she defeated her compatriot Rose Namajunas in a very close split decision fight.
A wrestling specialist, Cookie Monster as she is called, has managed in 8 of her 19 victories to finish before the cards. She joined UFC in March 2015 and has six consecutive victories. She has not lost since September 2018, when Tatiana Suárez defeated her by technical KO.
Zhang Weili
- Odds: -420
- Record: 22-3-0
- Age: 33
- Height: 1,63 m
- Weight: 52 kg
- Reach: 160 cm
Weili Zhang is nicknamed Magnum and throughout her involvement in mixed martial arts she specialized in sanda, a specialty related to kick boxing. She joined UFC in August 2018 and strung together a string of five wins.
In one of them, in August 2019, she conquered the strawweight title by defeating Brazilian Jéssica Andrade. She successfully defended it against Poland’s Joanna Jędrzejczyk, but the next fight, in April 2021, she lost it to Rose Namajunas, who gave her a rematch and beat her again seven months later.
The Chinese fighter decided to refocus on regaining the crown, and this year she beat Jędrzejczyk again.
JefeBet Prediction
Rose Namajunas, recent rival of both, believes that Weili Zhang has the best chance of winning, something that is in line with what we believe at JefeBet. The Chinese fighter has more potential and will prevail, without having to go to the scorecards, to regain the lost title.
Prediction: Weili Zhang wins by technical KO.
Odds courtesy of Unibet. Read our review here!
