Carla Esparza is a 2-1 favorite against Maryna Moroz at UFC Fight Night 112 on Sunday on FS1. Esparza had a great beginning in the UFC, as she defeated Rose Namajunas in Season 19 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, but she was destroyed three months later by Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185. Esparza split two fights since, beating Juliana Lima, but losing to Randa Markos. Moroz is 8-1 in her career, including 3-1 in the UFC. This fight is one of three on the FS2 portion of the preliminary card, leading up to a six-fight main card which features Kevin Chiesa vs. Kevin Lee. Let’s take a look at Esparza vs. Moroz and UFC predictions.
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Carla Esparza (11-4, 2-2 UFC)
Esparza is a fighter who has won 11 times but most of her success came in the lower levels of MMA. She has lost four times, twice in Bellator and twice in the UFC. She got a big win against Rose Namajunas in 2014 but she couldn’t follow up that win, as she was beaten at UFC 185 in 2015 by Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Esparza did defeat Juliana Lima at UFC 197 last year but she was beaten by Randa Markos by split decision in February of this year. The fight against Markos was one in which she should have won, as many people who unofficially scored the fight had Esparza winning.
Esparza has three knockouts wins in her career and four wins by submission. She has three first round finishes. The problem with betting on Esparza in this fight is that she has yet to prove she is reliable. The only fighter of note she has beaten is Namajunas and there are major questions as to whether or not Namajunas is any good.
Maryna Moroz (8-1, 3-1 UFC)
Moroz has only lost once in her career and that was against Valerie Letourneau in 2015. Since that loss, Moroz has bounced back to defeat Cristina Stanciu and Danielle Taylor. Moroz has five wins by submission in her career and one by knockout. She has five first round finishes.
Moroz said on the UFC website that she has respect for Esparza. “I respect everyone who has the heart and courage to step in the cage and put their life on the line in order to compete on the biggest stage in the world.” Moroz said, “Carla Esparza is a former champion and tough mixed martial artist, and I respect her accomplishments. At the end of the day I work for UFC and I’ll fight whoever they will tell me to fight and on June 25th it’s strictly business and I am coming with full intentions to win that fight.”
UFC Picks
Why is Esparza a 2-1 favorite in this fight? What has she done to deserve that type of respect? Almost all of her wins were in lower levels of MMA, as in the UFC and Bellator she is just 2-4. We really don’t know just how good Moroz is but she is definitely capable of beating Esparza. I think the odds on this fight should be more like a pick, so I will take the plus money and go with Moroz to get the win.
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UFC Fight Night 112 is set for Sunday, June 25 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The main event features Michael Chiesa taking on Kevin Lee, as part of a six-fight main card on FS1. There are six preliminary bouts, with three on FS2 and three on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (FS1)
Michael Chiesa vs. Kevin Lee
Tim Boetsch vs. Johny Hendricks
Felice Herrig vs. Justine Kish
Joachim Christensen vs. Dominick Reyes
Tim Means vs. Alex Garcia
B.J. Penn vs. Dennis Siver
Preliminary Card (FS2)
Clay Guida vs. Erik Koch
Carla Esparza vs. Maryna Moroz
Devin Powell vs. Darrell Horcher
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Jared Gordon vs. Michel Quinones
Josh Stanbury vs. Jeremy Kimball
Tony Martin vs. Johnny Case
How to Bet
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