UFC 281: Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili highlights, results and play by play analysis

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The UFC’s strawweight title is on the line. Carla Esparza, the first ever 115 lb champion in the company, is looking to out-do her first reign as champ by successfully defending the belt against her challenger: Zhang Weili.

Esparza comes into this fight off the back of her split decision win over Rose Namajunas to clinch the championship. Zhang’s last fight was a phenomenal TKO win over former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

This post will cover all the action from Esparza vs. Zhang as both women look to prove worthy of being two-time champions in the UFC.

UFC 281 is a standard PPV. There are four early preliminary card fights, which should kick off around 6pm ET/3pm PT. Those will air on big ESPN, ESPN+, and UFC Fight Pass. Things will stay on ESPN/ESPN+ for four more fights at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and then we’ll go over to ESPN+ PPV at 10pm ET/7pm PT as per the norm.

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About the author

Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim's specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

Tim is also BE's lead (only) sumo reporter. He blogs about that sport here and on his own substack, Sumo Stomp!

Email me at tim@bloodyelbow.com. Nice messages will get a response.