UFC 274: Dana White shuts down talk of trilogy between Esparza and Namajunas, says no one wants to see that rematch
- White ‘started zoning out halfway through’ Esparza’s strawweight title-winning defeat of Namajunas on Saturday night in Phoenix
- UFC boss suggests rematch between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk in Singapore will produce next challenger for new champ
UFC president Dana White is in no rush to book a third fight between strawweight stars Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas.
Esparza defeated Namajunas for a second time to claim the promotion’s strawweight belt in the co-main event of UFC 274 in Phoenix, Arizona, with a split decision win.
But the fight was almost completely devoid of action, and panned by cage-side commentators as one of the worst in UFC history. White did not enjoy it any more than the broadcast team did.
“It was a weird fight,” the UFC president said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “It seems like they didn’t want to engage. I think there was a total of six punches thrown in the first round, so that’s a tough one. It happens sometimes.”
The fight’s total lack of decisive moments made it very difficult to score, but White admits he did not pay enough attention to the action to have an opinion on the judges’ decision.
“I don’t even know [who should have won],” he said. “I started zoning out halfway through it, so I don’t know.”
Heading into UFC 274, the 29-year-old Namajunas (11-5) was fast on her way to becoming the greatest strawweight of all time. Based on that, and the bizarre nature of her loss to Esparza (19-6), there is an argument to be made for a third fight between the pair.
