Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza earned a dominant second TKO via ground and pound in the co-main for UFC Vegas 27. ‘The Cookie Monster’ secured the crucifix position on two separate occasions and managed to finish the fight via strikes. In fact, the stoppage win marked just the 11th win from the crucifix position in UFC history.
Yan Xiaonan rushed in on Carla Esparza early and found herself grounded in a matter of mere moments. The Chinese fighter paid dearly for her overzealousness, as Esparza managed to capitalize on the opportunity and offload a significant amount of damage. She cut Xiaonan open at the end of round one and compounded on the damage as the fight progressed.
Per UFC stats, Esparza landed 104 strikes of 117 thrown in round 1, a novel occurrence at strawweight. She landed a total of 170 strikes and secured a 100% takedown rate.
From the crucifix position, @CarlaEsparza1 battered Yan Xiaonan for the TKO
#UFCVegas27 pic.twitter.com/of7xiY13HV
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 23, 2021
sHe JuSt HeLd ThE oThEr PeRsOn DoWn https://t.co/CDIEZpyvCb pic.twitter.com/eXNyFoQA4w
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) May 23, 2021
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UFC Vegas 27: Yan Xiaonan vs Carla Esparza
‘The Cookie Monster’ is now on a five-fight win streak in the division and is leading the pack from the front. Tatiana Suarez is the only other fighter with a similar streak, however, her inactivity has been a major setback. Esparza came in as the number four ranked strawweight and swiped Xiaonan’s number three ranking.
YAN vs ESPARZA! #UFCVegas27 is LIVE TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/tlYRtI8B3P
— danawhite (@danawhite) May 21, 2021
Chiefly, Esparza holds a rather one-sided victory over the current 115-pound champion in Rose Namajunas who sits atop the division. Given her most recent win, there’s a major increase in fan interest to see Esparza rematch Namajunas. Prior to this TKO win, Carla Esparza continued to win fights via split decision and lacked clear decisive finishes.
However, her UFC Vegas 27 co-main event booking turned out to be a showcase from start to finish. The first round saw a record-setting number of strikes being thrown to a grounded opponent that caught Yan Xiaonan off guard. Fans expected Xiaonan to put forth a strong performance and build off her six-fight unbeaten streak in the UFC.
Next in line for the title?
@CarlaEsparza1 with an absolute MASTERCLASS tonight at #UFCVegas27! pic.twitter.com/owo1IG00df
— UFC (@ufc) May 23, 2021
However, it’s back to the drawing board for the fighter out of China who clearly needs to work on her ground game. Carla Esparza will take away plenty of positives from her showing and is excited to step in against Rose Namajunas. Moreover, she’ll certainly have a chip on her shoulder when considering the way she beat ‘Thug’ Rose the first time.
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