A women’s strawweight bout between Yan Xiaonan and Carla Esparza is part of the main card at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Xiaonan is 13-1-1 in her career, while Esparza is 17-6. This fight is listed as the co-main event and part of a six-fight main card on ESPN+ that is headlined by the fight between Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt. There are also seven preliminary bouts, also on ESPN+. Let’s look at the bout between Xiaonan and Esparza and UFC predictions.
UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt Betting
Yan Xiaonan (13-1-1, 6-0 UFC)
Xiaonan came into the UFC with a record of 7-1-1 and she has six wins and no losses in the UFC. She is unbeaten in her last five fights. She is coming off a unanimous decision win against Claudia Gadelha in November of last year. Yan won a unanimous decision against Karolina Kowalkiewicz in February of last year, won a unanimous decision against Angela Hill in June of 2019, won a unanimous decision against Syuri Kondo in November of 2018 and won a unanimous decision against Viviane Pereira in June of 2018. Xiaonan has been a pro since 2009 and she has five wins by TKO/KO and no submissions. She has five first round finishes.
Xiaonan is looking to get a title shot if she wins this fight against Esparza. “Yeah, I think so,” Xiaonan said to the media, “Very huge fight for me and very important. I prepared for this fight for a very long time, and I think the winner of me and Esparza will be able to challenge for the belt. That’s my plan. I win this fight and my next step will be to challenge for the championship.”
Carla Esparza (17-6, 7-4 UFC)
Esparza came into the UFC with a record of 10-2 and she has seven wins and four losses in the UFC. She is 4-1 in her last five fights. She is coming off a split decision win against Marina Rodriguez in July of last year. Esparza won a split decision against Michelle Waterson in May of last year, won a majority decision against Alexa Grasso in September of 2019, won a unanimous decision against Virna Jandiroba in April of 2019 and lost to Tatiana Suarez in September of 2018. Esparza has been a pro since 2010 and she has three wins by knockout and four by submission. She has three first round finishes.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Xiaonan 6.42 / Esparza 2.29
Striking Accuracy: Xiaonan 42% / Esparza 42%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Xiaonan 3.63 / Esparza 2.85
Defense: Xiaonan 63% / Esparza 53%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Xiaonan 1.00 / Esparza 3.44
Takedown Accuracy: Xiaonan 75% / Esparza 35%
Takedowns defended: Xiaonan 75% / Esparza 48%
Submission average: Xiaonan 0.0 / Esparza 0.3
UFC Picks
I am a little bit surprised at the price on this bout, as I thought Yan would be a solid favorite. I am just not sold that Esparza is anything special. She beats who she is supposed to beat, but she struggles against top competition. I think Xiaonan is in the top competition category. There is no question Xiaonan will win a striking battle and I don’t think Esparza is good enough to submit Xiaonan. I will take Xiaonan to get this win.
UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt Card & Odds
Bantamweight: Cody Garbrandt -115 vs. Rob Font -115
Women’s Strawweight: Carla Esparza -110 vs. Xiaonan Yan -120
Flyweight: Raulian Paiva +120 vs. David Dvorak -150
Heavyweight: Jared Vanderaa +150 vs. Justin Tafa -190
Featherweight: Yilan Sha +204 vs. Joshua Culibao -265
Lightweight: Damir Hadžovic -125 vs. Yancy Medeiros -105
Welterweight: Court McGee -115 vs. Claudio Silva -115
Bantamweight: Ricardo Ramos +100 vs. Bill Algeo -130
Flyweight: Victor Rodriguez +254 vs. Bruno Silva -340
Lightweight: Rafael Alves +411 vs. Damir Ismagulov -610
Middleweight: Edmen Shahbazyan +129 vs. Jack Hermansson -162
Women's Featherweight: Norma Dumont +135 vs. Felicia Spencer -170
Heavyweight: Chris Barnett +244 vs. Ben Rothwell -325
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