PHOENIX – Carla Esparza got the job done, but she knows it didn’t look pretty.
The veteran fighter reclaimed the UFC strawweight title by dethroning Rose Namajunas by split decision in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 274 at Footprint Center. It was a puzzling fight as there was very little action throughout the entire 25 minutes.
Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) knows the fight was lackluster. And although she’s now champion once again, she’s not thrilled by the type of fight she and Namajunas put on.
“That’s always a bummer,” Esparza told reporters at the UFC 274 post-fight news conference. “You want to put a show for the fans, and it’s unfortunate to be a part of a fight like that. But I felt I was putting the pressure, and I was coming forward, and I was holding on to the center of the octagon. At the end of the day, I did what I could, and I tried to fight my fight, but fights go like that sometimes.”
Esparza believes she did enough to be awarded the win at the end of five rounds. However, she was aware the fight could’ve gone either way.
“In my head, I thought being the aggressor, it would look better to the judges, but in fights like that you never know how the judges are going to view it,” Esparza said. “At the end of the day, I was not 100 percent sure what was going to happen when they called my name.”
UFC president Dana White told reporters following the fight that an immediately trilogy is not to be expected. He said the winner of Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk, which is set to go down at UFC 275 in June, will likely determine the next title challenger.
Esparza thinks that makes sense but would also add another option to the list.
“I would say it’s definitely in the mix as a No. 1 contender fight,” Esparza said. “That or Marina Rodriguez. Obviously we fought before, but she’s been on a tear. We fought a few fights ago, and she’s had some dominant wins over some really great fighters. I would definitely put her up there.”
