On Sunday, a major upset took place during the preliminary portion of a UFC Fight Night event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
On the prelims, Randa Markos won a split decision against former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza.
While the fight was close, and the decision can be debated, this is still a major win for Markos.
Despite looking impressive on the season of The Ultimate Fighter where the first UFC strawweight champion was crowned, Markos has struggled in the UFC. Going in the fight with Esparza, Markos had a 2-3 UFC record and was coming off a submission loss Cortney Casey. A fight with the former champion was a huge step up in competition, but she still managed to cease the opportunity.
Markos is now only the second woman to defeat Esparza in the UFC. The only other woman to do so is current UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.