UFC 281: Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili Odds

Zhang Weili is heavily favored against Carla Esparza at UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira on Saturday, November 12 in New York City, New York. This event is one of five fights on the main pay-per-view card. Esparza is 19-6 in her career, while Weili is 22-3 in her career. There are a total of 14 fights, with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPNews/ ESPN+, and five on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira. Let’s look at the bout between Esparza and Weili and UFC predictions.

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on Saturday, November 12 with 14 fights, with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPNews/ ESPN+, and five on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira Betting

Carla Esparza (19-6, 10-4 UFC)

Esparza came into the UFC with a record of 9-2 and she has 10 wins and four losses in the UFC. In her last six fights, she has six wins and no losses. She defeated Virna Jandiroba by unanimous decision, Alexa Grasso by majority decision, Michelle Waterson by split decision, Marina Rodriguez by split decision, Yan Xiaonan by TKO, and Rose Namajunas by split decision. Esparza’s last loss in her career was against Tatiana Suarez by TKO in September of 2018. Esparza has been a pro since 2010 and she has four wins by TKO/KO and four by submission. She has three first round finishes.

Zhang Weili (22-3, 6-2 UFC)

Weili came into the UFC with a record of 16-1 and she has six wins and two losses in the UFC. She defeated Danielle Taylor by unanimous decision, Jessica Aguilar by armbar submission, Tecia Torres by unanimous decision, Jessica Andrade by TKO, and twice against Joanna Jedrzejczyk with once by split decision, and once by KO; while losing to Rose Namajunas twice, with once by KO and once by split decision. Weili has been a pro since 2013 and she has 11 wins by TKO/KO and seven by submission. She has 11 first round finishes.

Weili said this to mmamania.com about her upcoming fight against Esparza, “I think everyone is an individual and women shouldn’t be defined by who they are. Girls, girls are also individuals. It doesn’t mean that I am very thin, very beautiful, and have long hair, it’s beautiful. I don’t think that’s the case. Girls can be powerful, and they can also have short hair. Everyone is different and beauty is different in different ways. Because Joanna and Carla, they are different fighters ... Joanna is a stand-up fighter, Carla is a wrestler, so our tactics will definitely have some changes. It’s my first time fighting a wrestler, I’ve never fought a wrestler before,” she concluded. “I’m very excited and I also want to test my wrestling and my controlling skills.”

Rose Namajunas said this to about the upcoming matchup between Esparza and Weili, “I think a lot of people are definitely sleeping on Carla. I think people are just going to assume that Weili’s going to run her over and all this stuff, and rightfully so. Weili is obviously a machine, and she is a beast. … She definitely represented a very scary opponent that I was facing. I’m definitely leaning more toward Weili at this point, but it’s really hard for me to necessarily count Carla out. I hope that the fight isn’t anything like my fight with Carla last time. There’s either a chance that it will be kind of similar to that, like kind of boring where they’re both just point fighting. Or one person gets the other person to come out of their game plan in a devastating fashion and maybe finishes the other person. I’m hoping for it to be an exciting fight, though.”

Striking Stats

Strikes landed per minute: Esparza 2.20 / Weili 5.78

Striking Accuracy: Esparza 40% / Weili 47%

Strikes absorbed per minute: Esparza 2.59 / Weili 4.26

Defense: Esparza 55% / Weili 52%

Grappling Stats

Takedown average: Esparza 3.25 / Weili 2.09

Takedown Accuracy: Esparza 35% / Weili 34%

Takedowns defended: Esparza 47% / Weili 60%

Submission average: Esparza 0.3 / Weili 0.3

UFC Picks

I can’t lay the price of almost 4-1 on Weili but I don’t know that I want to put money on Esparza so that means looking at the rounds. I think what Namajunas said about this fight is likely to happen in that it will be both fighters trying to avoid making mistakes. That should result in the fight going the distance, so I will take the rounds to go over the total.

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira Card & Odds

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