Esparza to Face Moroz at Fight Night 112
UFC Fight Night 112 now has more star power added to its card.
Former UFC women’s strawweight champion and Ultimate Fighter winner Carla Esparza is set to square off with Maryna Moroz at the event, which will take place on June 25 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Esparza became the promotion’s inaugural strawweight champion back in December 2014, defeating Rose Namajunas via submission in the final bout of the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter to win the title.
Since then, however, Esparza has been struggling. In addition to dealing with injuries since then, she lost the title in her first defense — a second-round TKO loss to current champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185. Esparza was victorious over Juliana Lima at UFC 197, but Esparza lost to Randa Markos via split decision last month at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Browne.
Moroz is 3-1 in the UFC thus far since debuting at a Fight Night event in April 2015, and she has won two straight bouts by decision. Moroz had won six straight bouts before suffering her first defeat. Out of those six victories, five — including her UFC debut — came by armbar submission, and all but her first professional bout ended in the first round.
Esparza and Moroz join a card that also already features a featherweight bout between MMA legend B.J. Penn and Dennis Siver, and a middleweight fight featuring Johny Hendricks taking on Tim Boetsch. No main event has been named as of March 25.