Amanda “Tubby” Alequin is calling her shot. In a recent Instagram post, the veteran black belt and no-gi world champion asks for a 20-minute submission-only match against newly-crowned UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza.
Carla Esparza, congratulations on your title fight with Rose Namajunas. Congratulations on the newlyweds. However if you do want to grapple, let’s say we do a match. Twenty minutes, submission only. I can beat you at 115, 125, or 135. Let’s do it.
Esparza won the strawweight title from Rose Namajunas in a largely uneventful fight at UFC 274. This was not the pair’s first title fight; Esparza submitted Namajunas in December of 2014 to capture the inaugural strawweight title. Esparza would lose that title against Joanna Jedrzejzcyk in her next bout. With her split decision win over Namajunas, Esparza has now won six straight fights.
Alequin makes reference to Esparza’s last grappling match — a loss against Danielle Kelly at Fury Grappling 3. Just minutes into that match, Esparza lifted Kelly from inside Kelly’s closed guard and slammed her down. The impact caused a massive gash on Esparza’s head, prompting the doctor end the match.
Amanda Alequin is a world-class jiu-jitsu competitor. A 2016 IBJJF no-gi world champion, she is a fixture of the elite grappling scene. She recently competed at Who’s Number One where she lost a close but entertaining decision to Brianna Ste-Marie.
While many call-outs never come to fruition, a match between Alequin and Esparza seems like a real possibility. Esparza is a grappler at heart and has shown an willingness to face high-level competition in that realm.
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