Carla
Esparza is expected to make her final walk to the Octagon when she faces
Tecia
Pennington at UFC 307
on Saturday night.
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No matter what the future might hold, Esparza will always carry a
little piece of
UFC history with her. That is because “Cookie Monster” became
the promotion’s inaugural strawweight champion when she submitted
Rose
Namajunas in the third round of their bout at “The Ultimate
Fighter 20” finale in December 2014. It’s something that Esparza
won’t soon forget.
“To win that historical title, that first title in the strawweight
division, was the best feeling of my life and probably still is to
this point,” Esparza recently told UFC.com.
“The night that I became champion, the biggest memory that comes to
mind is the finish and the ‚Oh, my gosh, my hand is being raised,’
feeling. That moment of pure, almost disbelief and happiness, that
was the best feeling. Walking out with the belt and then just
seeing all my teammates and friends after. I got to fight alongside
my teammates on The Ultimate Fighter, including one of my best
friends, Felice
Herrig.”
Heading into the bout, Namajunas had emerged as the favorite thanks
to her exploits on “TUF 20,” where she submitted all three of her
opponents prior to facing Esparza.
“My opponent had so much hype behind her, and I thought I wasn’t
going to be able to deal with her jiu-jitsu and it was going to be
really scary,” Esparza said. “My coach even told me in between
rounds, ‚It’s not as bad as you thought. It’s not as scary as you
thought. Just keep doing what you’re doing on the ground like you
got this.‘ I was really hard on myself going into it, but I was
able to dominate.”
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Esparza would relinquish the strap to Joanna
Jedrzejczyk one fight later at UFC 185, but the Team Oyama
representative would regain the crown by besting Namajunas in a
rematch at UFC 274 in May 2022. Esparza credits her passion for the
sport as the driving force behind her remaining a top contender at
115 pounds for as long as she has.
“This is a constantly evolving game and my love for being a student
and learning new things and my passion for this sport has just kept
the fire alive in me,” she said. “It helped propel me to just get
better and better and be able to contend for this title again and
win it eight years later.”
As Esparza prepares to enter retirement, she believes that winning
a UFC belt — while a noteworthy accomplishment — doesn’t define
her.
“Being a champion, to me, is not just about a belt around my waist,
it’s a mentality,” Esparza said. “I think that I’ve always been a
champion, but I’ve just been waiting for that belt to come into my
life. Being a champion is not just about a belt or a medal; it’s so
many other things. It’s a mentality. It’s the lifestyle, the way
you carry yourself every day.”