Claudia Gadelha is a huge favorite over Carla Esparza at UFC 225 on Saturday in Chicago, Illinois. This event is one of four on the FS1 portion of the preliminary card. Gadelha is 15-3 in her career, while Esparza is 13-4 in her career. There are a total of five fights on the main pay-per-view card at UFC 225, with the headliner a bout between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero. There are also a total of eight fights on the preliminary card with four on FS1 and four on UFC Fight Pass. Let’s look at the bout between Gadelha and Esparza and UFC predictions.
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Claudia Gadelha (15-3, 4-3 UFC)
Gadelha came into the UFC with a record of 11-0 and has four wins and three losses in the UFC. She defeated Tina Lahdemaki by unanimous decision, Jessica Aguilar by unanimous decision, Cortney Casey by unanimous decision and Karolina Kowalkiewicz by submission. She lost to Jessica Andrade by unanimous decision, while losing to Joanna Jedrzejczyk twice, once by split decision and once by unanimous decision, Gadelha has been a pro since 2008 and has seven wins by submission and two by TKO/KO. She has eight first round finishes.
Carla Esparza (13-4, 4-2 UFC)
Esparza came into the UFC with a record of 9-2 and has four wins and two losses in the UFC. She defeated Rose Namajunas by submission, Juliana Lima by unanimous decision, Maryna Moroz by unanimous decision, and Cynthia Calvillo by unanimous decision; while losing to Joanna Jedrzejczyk by TKO and Randa Markos by split decision. Esparza has been a pro since 2010 and has three wins by TKO/KO and four by submission. She has won eight of her last 11 fights and has three first round finishes.
Carla Esparza said this to mmajunkie.com about Gadelha, “She’s always been kind of a big trash talker and we’ve had a little Twitter war, which came from nothing, back in the day. Even recently, she’s talked crap about me on her Instagram, calling me names. Even last year, out of nowhere talking crap about me, and right now, I think she called me a ‘dumbass,’ and a ‘little girl. She’s got some anger issues.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Gadelha 3.44 / Esparza 2.40
Accuracy: Gadelha 42% / Esparza 37%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Gadelha 4.71/ Esparza 2.86
Defense: Gadelha 57% / Esparza 58%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Gadelha 3.93 / Esparza 4.27
Accuracy: Gadelha 50% / Esparza 35%
Takedowns defended: Gadelha 61% / Esparza 77%
Submission average: Gadelha 1.0 / Esparza 0.6
UFC Predictions
Gadelha is a -525 favorite in this bout which I think is a little high considering she has been a struggling lately. She was scheduled to fight Esparza three times before this and each time she pulled out for various reasons. This fight between these has been a long time coming and it should be very interesting. I will avoid picking a side and instead look at the total. Their combined first round finishes are 11 so I will take the rounds to go under the total.
UFC 225 takes place on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The main pay-per-view card has five fights, featuring Robert Whittaker taking on Yoel Romero. There are eight fights on the preliminary card, with four on FS1 and four on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Middleweight - Robert Whittaker -234 vs. Yoel Romero
Welterweight - Colby Covington -130 vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Women’s Featherweight - Holly Holm -220 vs. Megan Anderson
Heavyweight - Tai Tuivasa -264 vs. Andrei Arlovski
Welterweight - Mike Jackson -230 vs. CM Punk
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Heavyweight - Curtis Blaydes -176 vs. Alistair Overeem
Women’s Strawweight - Claudia Gadelha -525 vs. Carla Esparza
Featherweight - Mirsad Bektic -230 vs. Ricardo Lamas
Heavyweight - Rashad Coulter -180 vs. Chris de la Rocha
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Light Heavyweight - Anthony Smith -315 vs. Rashad Evans
Flyweight - Joseph Benavidez -255 vs. Sergio Pettis
Lightweight - Charles Oliveira -160 vs. Clay Guida
Featherweight - Dan Ige -135 vs. Mike Santiago
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