Carla Esparza vs Tatiana Suarez Set For UFC 228
No main event has been announced for UFC 228 on Sept. 8, but a high profile strawweight fight should soon be made official.
Sources close to the fight confirmed to MMANYtt.com reporter Damon Martin that Carla Esparza will face Tatiana Suarez in Dallas, Texas. The fight was first reported by @_MMAFNL.
Esparza (13-5) is coming off the back of a controversial decision loss to Claudia Gadelha at UFC 225 this past June. Prior to that loss, the former UFC strawweight champion had put together back-to-back wins after securing unanimous decision victories over first Maryna Moroz and then Cynthia Calvillo at UFC 219 last Dec. Esparza will now look to take her UFC record to 5-3 when she faces another The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) series winner Suarez in 6 weeks.
Suarez (6-0) has three wins under her belt in the UFC and was the winner of the TUF 23 strawweight series. The 27-year-old defeated Amanda Cooper in the final of the tournament in July 2016 and has since gone on to record victories over Viviane Pereira and most recently Alex Grasso at UFC Fight Night 129 last May. Suarez will now look to take the scalp of a former champion when she meets Esparza in Dallas.
Only two bouts have been officially announced so far with Yair Rodriguez taking on Zabit Magomedsharipov and Jimmie Rivera facing John Dodson.
