Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Carla Esparza vs Michelle Waterson

Here's the match video of Carla Esparza vs Michelle Waterson from last night's UFC show in Jacksonville. These are supposed to be two of the top contenders in the Strawweight division. So on paper it seems like a good fight. But neither of them did enough to win the fight. I always talk about that there should be a an option to declare a no contest for lack of action. Of course the ref can also warn fighters if there isn't enough action but most refs won't do that. I wouldn't give either of them a title shot based on this fight. Michelle's strategy was typical Jackson Wink. They think she's more effective working at a distance. On the other hand, Carla is more effective getting takedowns and grinding out a win. Carla's coach Colin Oyama tried to get her to do that but she just didn't want to take a risk. So a split decision was inevitable. I scored round one 9-9. They were dancing around for five minutes. Carla got a takedown at the end of the round but I won't reward her for that. Two of the judges score the round 10-9 for Carla so they did reward her for a meaningless takedown. I scored round two 10-9 for Michelle and round three 10-9 for Carla. So I scored it a draw or a no contest due to ineffectiveness. Neither deserved a win. The judges scorecards were interesting. One judge scored it 30-27 for Michelle. The second judge scored it 30-27 for Carla. And the third scored it 29-28 for Carla. So that takedown at the end of round one is what ultimately won Carla the fight. Obviously she should have done more of that which is what Oyama told her to do. Listen to your damn coach. It's easy to blame the judges but that's why I am an advocate of tie rounds and refs admonishing fighters for ineffectiveness. Neither fighter deserved the win. As Schwan Humes and I discussed on a recent podcast, this is the kind of fight that sours fans on WMMA. Check out the fight video for yourself.