AKA

Carla
"Cookie Monster"
Esparza

Stats

Stance: Orthodox
Division: Women's Strawweight
Height: 5' 1"
Reach: 63"
Leg reach: 35.00
Weight: 115 lbs.
Team: Team Oyama
Nationality: Los Angeles, United States
Age: 36

Accolades

Recent win streak: 3
Wins by KO: 3
Wins by submission: 4

ATHLETE METRICS

STRIKING ACCURACY

Significant Strikes Attempted: 1124
Significant Strikes Landed: 453

TAKEDOWN ACCURACY

Takedowns Attempted: 128
Takedowns Landed: 25

BIOGRAPHY

Carla Esparza is an American mixed martial artist and former UFC Strawweight Champion. She currently competes in the women’s flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Carla is widely regarded as one of the top female fighters in MMA today, having fought her way to a world title.

Esparza was born on October 10, 1987 in Torrance California and began training martial arts at age 13 when she joined a karate school. After her first year of training, she competed in numerous tournaments around Southern California and won several titles throughout her career. In June 2008, Carla became a professional mixed martial artist and started training for MMA full time with legendary trainer Javier Mendez at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose, CA.

In 2011, Carla entered “The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned” season 20 tournament with the goal of becoming the UFC’s inaugural strawweight champion—which she did by defeating Rose Namajunas via unanimous decision on December 12th 2014 to win the championship belt. She held onto it until March 2015 when Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeated her to take over as titleholder.

Since then, Carla has gone on to compete against some of the best fighters in both strawweight and flyweight divisions—including Claudia Gadelha twice (once for Invicta FC) and Joanne Calderwood twice (once for UFC Fight Night). She also picked up impressive wins against Alexa Grasso, Randa Markos, Angela Hill and Marina Rodriguez during that time span as well as taking home Performance Bonus awards after fights versus Jessica Aguilar & Cynthia Calvillo among others.

Most recently Esparza returned from an 18-month layoff due to injury issues which had kept her sidelined since late 2019; but made quite a statement upon being back inside the octagon by winning impressively via TKO against veteran fighter Michelle Waterson at UFC Vegas 5 this past August 2020! With such inspiring performances over formidable opponents throughout her career thus far—it’s no wonder why fans view Carla with much admiration!

Fight History

Tecia Pennington
Carla Esparza: Defeated
by Unanimous Decision in Round 3
Sat. Oct 05, 2024
UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.
307
Zhang Weili
Carla Esparza: Defeated
by Submission in Round 2 @ 1:05
Sat. Nov 12, 2022
UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira
281
Rose Namajunas
Carla Esparza: Winner
by Split Decision in Round 5
Sat. May 07, 2022
UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje
274
Yan Xiaonan
Carla Esparza: Winner
by KO/TKO in Round 2
Sat. May 22, 2021
UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt
Marina Rodriguez
Carla Esparza: Winner
by Decision in Round 3
Sat. Jul 25, 2020
UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Till
Michelle Waterson
Carla Esparza: Defeated
by Decision in Round 3
Sat. May 09, 2020
UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje
249
Tatiana Saurez
Carla Esparza: Defeated
by KO/TKO in Round 3
Sat. Sep 22, 2018
UFC 228
228

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

What Is Carla Esparza's Record?
Carla Esparza's record in UFC is 20 wins and 7 losses with no draws.

Who Won The Fight Between Carla Esparza And Rose Namajunas?
Carla Esparza won the fight against Rose Namajunas.

When Is Carla Esparza's Next Fight?
Carla Esparza is targeting a return to competition in mid-2024, after a hiatus post her strawweight title loss at UFC 281 in November 2023.

What Is Carla Esparza's Height?
Carla Esparza stands at a height of 5′ 1″.

Who Is Carla Esparza's Husband?
Carla Esparza's husband is Matthew Lomeli.

What Is Carla Esparza's Net Worth?
The exact net worth of Carla Esparza is not specified in the provided context.

What Is Carla Esparza's Record On Tapology?
Carla Esparza's record on Tapology is 19-7-0.

What Is Carla Esparza's Profile On Sherdog?
Carla "Cookie Monster" Esparza is a professional female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter with statistics, pictures, news, and videos documented on her Sherdog profile.

What Is Carla Esparza's Instagram Handle?
Carla Esparza's Instagram handle is @CarlaEsparza1.