New UFC champ Carla Esparza must learn art of balance
Carla Esparza will forever live in record books as the UFC's first women's strawweight champion. However, she knows the real work is just beginning.
"I want to relax, but already in my mind I have my next opponent," Esparza tells USA TODAY Sports. "There's no rest for the champ, but that's all right."
Esparza (10-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), 27, won the UFC's inaugural 115-pound title last weekend with a third-round submission win against Rose Namajunas (2-2, 0-1). The title bout concluded a yearlong rollercoaster for Esparza. It began when the UFC announced a new women's division – a 115-pound weight class to accompany the bigger bantamweight division ruled by champ Ronda Rousey. Esparza was the Invicta FC champion at the time, but the UFC struck a deal with the all-female promotion to get its top strawweights.
They were among the 16 fighters who competed on The Ultimate Fighter 20 reality series, where, as the show's No. 1 seed, she won the tournament and claimed the title.
"It's kind of crazy for me," Esparza says. "I didn't realize how huge this was in my mind. I was just trying to focus on the fight. I can't believe it. This is a part of history, and it's amazing. No one can take this away from me."
Esparza is celebrating her victory with an Australian vacation but will soon be back to business. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (8-0, 2-0) is one of the fellow strawweights anxious to take her belt. UFC president Dana White said the undefeated Polish fighter is probably first in line, but Esparza would like a little break.
"I would like a bit of time off before I get back into camp because it has been such a long year with this 'TUF' journey," Esparza says. "It's been a very long year, a very draining one. If they give me a little break, I wouldn't say no."
As the inaugural strawweight champ, Esparza is responsible for shaping the future of the weight class. Some UFC champs, including Rousey, work hard on their marketability and know how to keep their names out there. Others, like flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson, stay out of the spotlight until fight time.
Johnson, in particular, knows the challenges Esparza will face. He had to win a four-man tournament to capture the inaugural 125-pound belt in 2012. Since then, the UFC's lightest male weight class has struggled to draw viewers like the bigger divisions.
Johnson says Esparza will have a similar challenge, but said she should focus on fighting first. Without the belt, her status as divisional figurehead is gone.
"She doesn't have to carry the torch to promote and make people excited for her weight class; that's not her job," Johnson says. "Her job is to just go out there and fight and put on good performances. That doesn't come through her running her mouth. It comes through hard work and becoming a better fighter."
Esparza says she's torn when thinking about what type of champion she wants to be. Getting fans excited about the division is important, but fame and notoriety are at the bottom of her list of motivations to be a fighter.
"To be honest, it's never really been about the fame or the money or anything like that," she says. "I really care about women's MMA and women's sports. Being a positive influence and helping it grow wherever I can is my goal. But I just want to fight. I love fighting."
The platform for Esparza's first title defense will reveal a lot about how the UFC views her. She could get co-headlining status on a bigger pay-per-view or network event, or she could top a small UFC Fight Night show on cable TV or the UFC Fight Pass digital network. Regardless of how fight fans will see her, though, Esparza vows she'll be prepared to defend her belt.
"Wherever they want me to be, I'm going to show up and fight," she says. "All I can really control is what I do and how I perform, so that's what I'm going to do."
Bohn writes for MMAJunkie.com.