Issue 172

November 2018

As the UFC's first strawweight champion, Carla Esparza, was on top of the world, only to lose it all and suffer a serious injury into the bargain. Now she's fighting back and seeking to make her mark in arguably the strongest women's division in the UFC. "I knew I had to change up a lot of things', she says.

UFC Strawweight,

Record: 16-6-0,

Team: Team Oyama,

From: Los Angeles, California.

"You're only as good as your last fight” is a phrase fighters hear a lot and it’s one with which the UFC’s first ever strawweight champion, Carla Esparza, is very familiar.

After sweeping through all in front of her during season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter and going on to capture the UFC strawweight title in December 2014, Esparza was then ruthlessly taken apart by Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185 just three months later.

It was a devastating defeat and one that Esparza admits haunted her for a while later.

"Honestly, I was in a very bad place for a little bit", Esparza admits. "Losing something you worked so hard for and for so many years? Yeah, it was really tough to take. Not being able to go back and train because I'd torn my shoulder in the fight, it was just kinda like I had no control. Eventually I just started my physical therapy and at the time, it felt like a fight in itself. It was just grind, grind, grind.

"I knew I had to change up a lot of things if I needed to come back and I just needed to stay focused. Little by little things started to come together. Seeing those small improvements day by day made me believe that I could come back.”

Having the inner drive and determination to face adversity is something that Esparza has been required to draw upon multiple times throughout her career.

Losses and serious injuries have put her back against the wall several times since she turned professional in 2010, but quitting has never once been an option.

“I think for me, I’ve always had that will and determination to keep on improving whatever I’ve been through,” Esparza reasons. “I’ve been through a lot of things in life and throughout my career and I think it’s just made me a stronger person. I love this sport and I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon. If I want to stay at the highest level I know that I have to constantly be getting better.

“I had so many injuries in my younger days that I had to rehab from,” she continues. “I always had to remain consistent and keep working hard at things even when I was coming back and I think that built an inner strength within me to keep coming back.

"I think that mentality transitions over to my fighting where remaining consistent and working hard at improving is just the only thing I know. I think that’s why I’ve been able to improve as much as I have and it’s helped me evolve my game throughout my career.”

One area in which Esparza has shown vast improvements since losing her title is her striking. After being totally overwhelmed by Jedrzejczyk in that department three years ago, Esparza has since shown she’s made a lot of progress and that she can hang with some of the best in division on the feet.

After losing the first round to Cynthia Calvillo at UFC 219 in December 2017, Esparza used her striking to get herself back into the fight and win the remaining two rounds to pick up the decision victory.

She then later showed further improvements in her next fight with Claudia Gadelha at UFC 225, but narrowly lost via a controversial split decision.

“I’m always trying to improve the holes in my game and this was something I knew I needed to focus on,” Esparza explains.

“I knew I needed to bring my striking up to the same level as my grappling and I wanted people to look at me as a complete fighter. I think people are finally starting to look at me like that, especially after my last fight with Gadelha.

“A lot of people told me that they thought I won the fight, but in its own way, it was a moral victory for me,” she continues. “Even if I didn’t get the win, it was still nice to beat someone up and have people look at my striking as something that has to be dealt with.”

Esparza’s desire to improve is currently fuelled by one goal. Reclaiming the title she won back in 2014 remains at the forefront of her mind and she knows that if she’s able to do that she will make history.

“After I lost my belt, the drive came from just wanting to get my hand raised again,” Esparza says. “I just wanted to have that feeling of winning again and being back in the win column.

"Now though, winning the belt is ultimately what I want and just because I lost it, doesn’t mean I can never have it again. I want to be that redemption story. I had the belt, then Joanna had the belt, and now Rose has the belt. Nobody has ever regained the title and that’s it, that’s my goal now.”

With a win already over the champion, a shot at the title could be within reach should Esparza be able to put a winning run together. In most circumstances the title holder is often considered to be the standard setter, but Esparza says that at 115-pounds it’s all about styles.

“I think it’s hard to say that one of us is ‘The best’ because I think it’s dependent on the match-up,” Esparza said. “Nobody thought that Joanna was going to lose her belt, but she’s now lost twice to Rose pretty convincingly. I’ve got a win over Rose in the past, but I’ve lost to Joanna, so I think it just kinda depends on who is fighting whom.

"I hope to be the best again, but I think if I had choose somebody today, you have to choose the person carrying the gold. My goal now is to beat that person and get my title back.”