A women’s strawweight division encounter has been added to UFC Fight Night Ft. Lauderdale according to Raphael Marinho of Combate as #9 Carla Esparza faces Livia Renata Souza.
Esparza (13-6-0) will enter the contest while in the midst of a two fight losing streak, having dropped bouts to the duo of Claudia Gadelha and Tatiana Suarez. Esparza was the first ever UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, defeating Rose Namajunas at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale to claim the gold. Esparza has competed nineteen times as a professional MMA fighter and nearly half of those bouts went to the judges scorecards.
Souza (13-1-0) is undefeated thus far under the UFC banner, having defeated the duo of Alex Chambers and Sarah Frota. Souza is a former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion, defeating Katja Kankaanpaa to win the gold at Invicta FC 12. Souza has suffered a single defeat as a professional MMA fighter and that came against fellow UFC fighter Angela Hill at Invicta FC 17.
UFC Fight Night Ft. Lauderdale takes place on Saturday, April 27 from the BB&T Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on ESPN.
