Carla Esparza lost her strawweight title as she suffered a second-round submission defeat by Zhang Weili at UFC 281.
The American was unpopular despite being in her home country due to her grinding fight style, which is not as fan-friendly as Weili's more hard-hitting approach. The Chinese fighter, who was the strawweight champion once before, is popular with supporters and felt that as they made their voices heard at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Esparza appeared willing to exchange with Zhang early in the first round, but neither woman could get much off during the opening stanza. When the fight did get to the ground the former champion went for the submission and almost had it, but was unable to secure a first-round finish.
It appeared Weili had the answers for Esparza's wrestling, managing to reverse her takedowns and take top position during most of their exchanges early. And in the second she made that control count, getting her rival's back and finishing the fight with a rear naked choke to become a two-time champion in the division.
Weili admitted she feels like a true part of the community in America now after receiving love throughout fight week despite facing a champion from the nation. And she was proud to win the belt again Stateside after initially taking the belt during a 2019 homecoming against Jessica Andrade
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"Today is like a dream come true," she said via a translator in her post-fight interview. "Every day since I lost my belt, every single night I would dream of this moment. I want to say thanks to all my supporters, family members and my friends all around the world, huge thanks to you guys.
"Last time when I won the belt in China all the fans were there to support me. I felt like I, Weili, belongs to China. This time, I came to the US and I feel the same level of support from all of you guys, I feel that Weili now belonds to the world!"
