After nearly 15 years in MMA, and more than two decades in combat sports, a pioneer has decided her next fight will be her last.
Inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) announced Friday on Instagram that her upcoming fight against Tecia Pennington (13-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC) at UFC 307 will be her final one.
Esparza cited a chance to go out her way to start spending more time with her family.
“*RETIREMENT FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT* I will be stepping into The UFC Octagon on Saturday, October 5th for the final time,” Esparza posted. “After almost 15 years as a professional, fighting the best of the best, I feel it’s time to hang up my gloves. This choice is made for my body and my family; 20+ years doing combat sports takes its toll.
“I wanted to give my ‘Cookie Monster’ fans, who have never been there to watch me live, one final opportunity. It feels bittersweet to leave this sport that I love so much, but I’m happy to be doing it on my own terms. #UFC307”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-K6SIKJxbT
Esparza, who will turn 37 in October, fought on the regional scene early in her career, but the two shots she had at the bigger level for Bellator came up short. But after a win over Felice Herrig, she made her way to Invicta and won the strawweight title against Bec Rawlings.
When the UFC opened up “The Ultimate Fighter” for women’s strawweights, she made it to the show, then won it by submitted Rose Namajunas to become the promotion’s first 115-pound champ. And though she lost it in her first attempted title defense against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015, she eventually worked her way back to a five-fight winning streak and upset Namajunas in 2022 to win the title for a second time.
Later that year, though, Esparza ran into another two-time champion in Zhang Weili and was submitted to surrender the belt. A little less than a year later, Esparza had her first child. This will be her first fight after giving birth.
UFC 307 (pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) takes place Oct. 5 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.