Carla Esparza Makes Case for Title Shot, Dana White Acknowledges ‘Message Received’

Carla Esparza is on the verge of coming full circle in her mixed martial arts career.

“The Cookie Monster” moved one step closer to a title shot with a second-round technical knockout of Xiaonan Yan in the UFC Fight Night 188 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Esparza has now won five consecutive bouts at 115 pounds and could be in line for a rematch with Rose Namajunas, whom she defeated to capture the promotion’s inaugural strawweight crown at “The Ultimate Fighter 20” finale in December 2014.

“It feels like a Cinderella story,” Esparza said. “Everything that I’ve been through, the ups and downs in this division, I’ve been fighting for over eleven years… To fight my way to being the Invicta champ then going through ‘TUF,’ winning that, being the champ, lose that in such a devastating manner, have a lot of highs and lows in this division and then to finally, almost seven years later, fight my way back to be in this position, it feels like a Cinderella story.”

After Esparza bested Namajunas to become champion, she was battered by Joanna Jedrzejczyk in a second-round knockout loss in her first title defense at UFC 185. From 2015 to 2018, the Team Oyama representative went just 3-4 and was something of an afterthought in the division.

That has all changed over the past three years, with a streak that also includes wins over Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson, Alexa Grasso and Virna Jandiroba. The former Invicta FC title holder was at her best against Yan, scoring takedowns with ease and battering her adversary with ground-and-pound from the crucifix position to earn the stoppage.

“To be honest, I was a little surprised she didn’t have more for me as far as the takedown goes,” Esparza said. “I’ve seen her defend the takedown against Claudia [Gadelha] and secure a win that way, so I thought I was going to have a little bit more of a tough time. Honestly, I’ve been working my wrestling a lot this camp.

“I knew I was going to get the finish walking into this fight, but definitely when I felt her on bottom and I felt that she had a really hard time getting out of that side control, I knew if I got that position again, it was just a matter of time before I could secure that finish.”

It was, ironically, Esparza’s first finish since defeating Namajunas more than six years ago. Earning the stoppage against an opponent on a six-bout UFC winning streak made the feat all the more impressive, and it caught the attention of the right people.

“She looked like a beast tonight,” UFC President Dana White said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “She came out and absolutely dominated. You can tell by the way she was fighting that she was trying to make a statement. Statement made, message received, we see you. I don’t know what we’re going to do next – if we do the rematch or if we give it to her.”

Namajunas is coming off a head-kick KO of Weili Zhang at UFC 261, and White was alluding to the possibility of a rematch between those two. However, if that doesn’t come to fruition, Esparza appears to have a great chance of being next in line.

“In my mind, in my heart, there is no question,” Esparza said. “I think finishing the No. 3 fighter in this division the way I did, hands down, that title fight is mine.”