Carla Esparza took home UFC gold, but that also came with a big chunk of criticism.
The more than 12-year veteran defeated Rose Namajunas to reclaim the UFC strawweight title in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 274 at Footprint Center in Phoenix. It was an uneventful fight that ended in a split decision favoring Esparza.
With just 67 combined significant strikes landed over 25 minutes, it’s been touted as one of the most lackluster championship fights in UFC history.
Both Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Namajunas (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) have been criticized for their performances in the aftermath of the event. The new champion is well aware of the public disdain for the bout, and finds it to be fair.
“Most definitely,” Esparza told MMA Junkie. “Nobody wants to see a fight like that, nobody wants to be part of a fight like that. I hate that I couldn’t put on a show for the fans.
“I hadn’t fought in front of a crowd since 2019 because of COVID. I was excited to go back in front of the crowd and put on a show. I was envisioning in my head, ‘We’re going to get Fight of the Night.’ Like this is the performance. We’re going to show up like we did the first time, but it’s just going to be a higher-skilled version of that fight and that’s what I was looking forward too.”
Esparza, 34, first became champ in December 2014 when she submitted Namajunas to become the inaugural UFC strawweight champion. She would go on to lose her title in the following fight against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2015.
Esparza is proud to have fought her way back to the belt, but does admit the nature of the fight and subsequent fallout does damper the moment.
“You don’t want to win a fight like that,” Esparza said. “You want to win a fight showing your skills and everything you’re working for, and you want to dominate and make a statement. So, it definitely made it a little bit bittersweet on how the fight went and kind of how the fans have been reacting.”
Esparza can’t exactly pinpoint why the fight played out the way it did. She expected a high-paced fight. However, she does feel like her threat of the takedown made Namajunas hesitate when striking.
“It’s hard to throw at someone who’s not going to stand in front of you and not really engage,” Esparza said. “You have these battles where you’re trading with someone and then that sets up others things too. We didn’t get much of a chance at that.”
