UFC: Carla Esparza bloodies and batters Yan Xiaonan for second-round TKO – then calls for title shot
- American makes it five wins in a row with second round finish of Chinese fighter in UFC Vegas 27 co-main event
- ‘The Cookie Monster’ calls on Dana White to book title fight with Rose Namajunas, whom she beat to become inaugural strawweight champ in 2014
Carla Esparza threw the gauntlet down for a strawweight title shot against Rose Namajunas after running through Yan Xiaonan to make it five wins in a row at UFC Vegas 27 on Saturday night.
The No 4-ranked American made it look easy, taking down the Chinese fighter within 15 seconds, with almost no resistance, and opening up a huge cut at the end of a dominant 10-8 first round after a big elbow at the horn. “The Cookie Monster” then repeated the trick, with referee Keith Peterson stepping in at 2:58 of the second round as she rained down punches from the crucifix position onto Yan’s bloody forehead.
Esparza – who submitted Namajunas with a third-round rear-naked choke to become the inaugural UFC strawweight champ on The Ultimate Fighter 20 finale in 2014 – called on the promotion’s president Dana White to book the rematch with “Thug Rose”.
“I want to have a chance to fight for that title,” Esparza told Paul Felder in her post-fight interview. “I think it’s an intriguing fight. It’s a fight everyone wants to see. Come on Dana, let’s make it happen.”
Yan made the mistake of being too aggressive at the start of the fight, walking straight towards Esparza and playing into her hands at the Apex facility.