CARLA ESPARZA vs ROSE NAMAJUNAS
Rose Namajunas reminds me of Ronda Rousey because she’s young and hungry, she fights with emotion and she’s got the personality and charm to be a huge star in the UFC. She came into the Ultimate Fighter with an uninspiring professional record of 2-1, but she earned her place in the final by wrecking Alex Chambers, Joanne Calderwood and Randa Markos. Rose struggled more than most to deal with the pressure of the show and she regularly broke down in tears when things got too much for her. This isn’t surprising considering she’s only 23 years old and she’s just gone from fighting in front of a few hundred people, to competing in front of millions in the biggest MMA promotion in the world. The angry and emotional Rose Namajunas that we saw on the Ultimate Fighter is a completely different person to the Rose that we saw before the show. Take a look at the following videos taken from her Youtube channel. Each of these videos were posted before her time on TUF and it’s almost like looking at a completely different person: Pressure makes diamonds and whilst Rose was already a talented athlete going into the Ultimate Fighter, the pressure of competing on TUF appears to have strengthened her as a person. The videos you’ve just watched were all recorded before the Ultimate Fighter and her experience on the show seems to have ignited a fire inside her that’s hard to put out. You only have to watch her recent interviews to see that she’s changed, there’s something different about her, she’s colder, more serious, more focused. She looks ready… Rose struggled to deal with the pressure of competing on the show and physically broke down in tears before each of her fights. She looked genuinely troubled, broken and distraught and yet come fight time she buried it and looked incredible. Each of her performances were outstanding. None of her opponents were easy and yet she walked through each of them like they were nothing. Over the years we’ve seen countless highly rated fighters make it to the finals of the Ultimate Fighter and then choke. I don’t think that Rose is the kind of person who is going to choke. When it’s show time, she always turns it on… Rose is one of those fighters that’s very hard to break. She fights angry, she fights with passion and she fights with emotion. She brings a violent intensity that cannot be taught through training. Fighters like this are dangerous because they’ve led a hard life and conflict is in their comfort zone. You almost have to kill them to beat them. It’s worth noting that Rose has spent time training at Roufus Sport and whilst she may not have had that many nice things to say about her former training camp, you can’t help but draw comparisons between her fighting style and the style of the Lightweight Champ, Anthony Pettis. Carla Esparza is the number 1 ranked Female Strawweight in the world. She retired her Invicta FC Strawweight title to join the UFC and she was the favourite to win season 20 of the Ultimate Fighter. Carla is very talented, but she’s no where near as well rounded as Rose. Rose Namajunas has better striking and she also has a significant reach advantage over Carla. I really feel that Carla will struggle to stay competitive in the stand up exchanges and it’s entirely possible that Rose could win this fight by knockout or TKO. Carla Esparza has a relentless style of fighting where she looks to take people down and control them on the ground. If this was a 3 round fight, I’d be a little nervous betting on Rose to win, but 25 minutes is a hell of a long time to spend in a cage with someone who is constantly trying to finish you. Rose Namajunas is mean, she’s nasty and she’s aggressive. She fights at a high pace, she’s good at everything and she’s got serious finishing ability. I really like her chances of stopping Carla inside the distance. Rose Namajunas has multiple paths to victory, where as Carla has to rely on being able to use her wrestling to control Rose for 5 rounds. That’s not easy to do when you’re fighting someone as fast, explosive and well rounded as Rose. It’s also not easy when you’re at a big reach disadvantage and the person you’re fighting has a lethal submission game. I’m betting on Rose Namajunas to win, because she has so many more paths to victory. I also like how this fight is taking place in Las Vegas, because we’ve seen the Nevada State Athletic Commission punish lay and pray tactics countless times this year. They now seem to favour aggression and damage as opposed to Octagon control and this type of judging will really suit Namajunas’ style of fighting. The TUF 20 Finale will take place in the smaller Octagon, which means it’s a lot easier for people to get back to their feet once they get taken down. This is because it’s much harder to land take downs in the centre of a small Octagon and it’s a lot easier for people trying to avoid takedowns to sprawl and scramble towards the fence. Once they’ve reached the fence, they can use it to wall walk and stand back up. The smaller cage will make it easier for Esparza to cut angles and close the distance, but it will also make it easier for Rose to avoid takedowns and command the centre of the Octagon. Carla’s only path to victory is keeping Rose down for 5 rounds and I feel that the smaller cage will help Rose a lot more than it will help Carla. Rose Namajunas represents the new age of MMA. The age where it isn’t enough to be great at one thing, you have to be great at everything. The new age MMA fighter has trained in every single discipline since they first started to compete in MMA and they have very few weaknesses. If you look at every UFC Champion, you will notice that they’re all extremely well rounded. Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw, Jose Aldo, Anthony Pettis, Robbie Lawler, Chris Weidman, Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez and Ronda Rousey. Look at those names! Every single one of them has a particular Martial Art that they excel at, but they’re also able to compete at a very high level in all the other disciplines. I don’t feel that the same could be said about Carla Esparza, but I do feel that it can be said about Rose Namajunas. That’s the reason why I believe Rose will be crowned the first ever UFC Strawweight Champion. OUR BETTING TIP: 10.00 Units [5% of your bankroll] on Rose Namajunas to win at odds of 1.63 | -159 | 63/100 The best odds on Rose Namajunas to win can be found at: [adrotate banner=”80″][divider]
