At UFC 281 media day, Carla Esparza talked about feeling underdog, her admiration for Frankie Edgar, and how she thinks Zhang Weili underestimates her ahead of her UFC 281 championship match.
UFC 281’s co-main event: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira features a straw showdown between defending champion Carla Esparza and former champion Zhang Weili. Since her previous win over Rose Namajunas at UFC 274: Charles Oliveira vs.
“I think she underestimated Rose as much as she does me,” Esparza said when asked about Willy’s previous losses to Namagunas at UFC 261 and UFC 268. Best game for her as I plan to do it.”
Esparza also touched on how she has evolved since her previous championship fights.
Carla Esparza was the UFC strawweight champion after winning ultimate fighter In 2014, she defeated Angela Hill, Tessia Torres, Jessica Bean, and Rose Namajunas.
“I feel like I’m definitely getting stronger,” Esparza told reporters when asked about her progress since her first fight with Namajunas at the inaugural UFC strawweight championship.
“You put a lot of weight into working with the UFC [Performance Institute]. I changed my mind. I’ve worked hard on it. I have been reading this week and have gone through many changes such as thinking more positively and having more faith in myself. Worked on a lot of skills. You’re learning to go back to being a novice and a novice in the classroom and relearn things and try to constantly evolve.”
Esparza was also asked about her feelings about sharing the card with Frankie Edgar, who is expected to retire after fighting at UFC 281.
“Frankie is one of my favorite fighters of all time, and probably my favorite. It was really cool watching him fight and kind of move through the weight classes,” Esparza said.
“I’ve always found inspiration from him because he was kind of like, the little guy that gets into fights and I feel like that was kind of me and he’s watched wrestling and batting, so he’s kind of been a kind of guy who, sort of, looks like a champion in sports to watch over the years” .
UFC 281: Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira takes place on Saturday, November 12, 2022, live from Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Follow up with FanSided MMA for all the news and highlights.
[ad_2]
