Carla Esparza to return against Juliana Lima at UFC 197

Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza (11-3-0) will replace the injured Jessica Aguilar and face Juliana Lima (8-2-0) at UFC 197.

Esparza has not fought in over a year since losing the belt to current champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185.

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Meanwhile, Lima has a two-fight win streak, with wins over Ericka Almedia and Nina Ansaroff.

I step in as a late replacement to fight Juliana Lima at #UFC197 April 23 in Las Vegas! Let's do… https://t.co/IKWW9aOWq5

— Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) March 29, 2016

Putting in work. #UFC197 #letsdoit #teamcarla @teamoyama pic.twitter.com/lGxbo2SPdA

— Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) March 30, 2016

UFC 197 takes place April 23rd with Daniel Cormier defending his UFC light-heavyweight belt against former champ Jon Jones in the main event.

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