UFC 274: Carla Esparza knew ‘it was a matter of time’ before she’d fight for the title again (Video)
Carla Esparza is looking to take back the belt she held eight years ago.
UFC 274 is set for Saturday with two big title fights on the card. One of them features Carla Esparza, as she’s back in the title hunt and she’s facing a familiar foe in Rose Namajunas. The two battled for the inaugural strawweight title in 2014, and things are coming full circle with Namajunas defending that very title against a surging Esparza.
“I knew it was a matter of time,” Esparza said during the UFC 274 media call. “I feel that it’s been so many years and this fight was a long time coming. Back then, we were both blue belts in MMA and now we’re both black belts.”
The “then” that Esparza is referencing is December 2014, when Namajunas and Esparza were the two women left standing after The Ultimate Fighter 20. They made it through the house and stood across from each other with the vacant title on the line. Esparza dominated the much younger, and less-experienced Namajunas, finishing her in the third round via rear-naked choke.
“I think stylistically we are very similar to where we were back in the day, but I think we’ve evolved a lot,” Esparza said. “She’s been in so many high-level fights, title fights. She has a lot more composure now and is more comfortable on the big stage. She was dangerous then and she’s more dangerous now.”
Esparza took the long road back to the UFC title
Since that fight eight years ago, Esparza and Namajunas have gone on very different career paths. Esparza has put together an 8-4 record since then, while Namajunas is 9-2 over that same period. Esparza dropped two fights in a row back in 2018 but has since put together a five-fight win streak to get back into the Octagon with a championship on the line.
“The accumulation of all this hard work, all these years, [winning the title] would make a statement,” Esparza said. It would show that you can lose, you can stumble, but you can fight your way back if you just put the work in.”
Esparza and Namajunas battled for the first title, kicking this division off in many ways. To see it come back to them nearly a decade later is an important point in history.
“I feel so proud to see how far this division has come,” Esparza said. “There’s so much competition and we’ve seen this division come a long way, to ‘start it,’ and still be a part of it today means a lot.”
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