UFC 249 saw an intriguing preliminary fight between strawweight contenders Carla Esparza and Michelle Waterson. But what should've been an exciting fight between the No. 7- and No. 8- ranked fighters was instead a snoozefest.
Both fighters seemed to shadowbox around the Octagon for 15 minutes, giving the judges very little to work with and spawning all sorts of "social distancing" jokes on the internet. That was evident in the drastically different scores: 30-27, 29-28, and 27-30 for Esparza.
Honestly, it probably could've gone either way, but it's hard to fault the judges when the fight features such little action. The first round was largely both fighters feeling each other out. Waterson used her kicks to maintain range but Esparza did manage a takedown late in the round. The second round was more dancing. Waterson kept Esparza at bay for much of the round, but failed to mount much of an offense herself. Esparza occasionally closed the gap and landed some shots, but would always back out.
The final frame was much of the same for the most part, although the action picked up a bit in the final moments. Esparza went on the offensive and managed to land some flush shots before the horn. In the end, with little from both fighters, Esparza's work over the course of the 15 minutes was seemingly enough to seal the victory — much to the surprise of Michell Waterson. Most of the internet also disagreed with the decision.
Esparza has now won three straight and is 17-6. Waterson, who entered Saturday's fight having lost to Joanna Jędrzejczyk in October of last year, is now 17-8.