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The Fight: Carla Esparza vs. Juliana Lima

The Real Fight: Carla Esparza vs. The Changing of the Guard

The Stakes

Carla Esparza surprised few women's MMA fans when she became the inaugural UFC women's strawweight champion. Joanna Jedrzejczyk surprised many, however, when she took it in emphatic fashion at UFC 185. Now more than a year separated from that fight, Esparza returns to the cage to face Juliana Lima.

The Question

How will Carla Esparza do in her return?

Analysis

Whenever there's a big fall in sports, it's followed by some introspection and re-evaluation. When looking back over Esparza's run as the leading lady of the strawweight division, two things are clear.

First, she is a very good grappler. Her success over recent years wasn't through chance or soft competition. Her wrestling pedigree is impressive, and she has done a marvelous job of adapting those skills for the cage. Technically speaking, she's a formidable talent, albeit a relatively one-dimensional one.

Second, unfortunately, is that she is terribly undersized in today's strawweight division at 5'1". Esparza has had steady success against solid opposition, but when she came across a big, strong Jedrzejczyk, things went sideways in a hurry. While there aren't too many women who dwarf her in the way Jedrzejczyk did, it's a big hurdle for her moving forward as the division steadily gets bigger and stronger.

Lima is a good opponent for gauging where Esparza falls in the division today from both a physical and technical perspective. If she struggles against the solid, but not exactly elite, Brazilian, it could mark the end of her days as a top 115-pounder. If she dominates, however, she will show that she is here to stay...at least for a while.