“This is a constantly evolving game and my love for being a student and learning new things and my passion for this sport has just kept the fire alive in me. Over the course of the eight years since she first became champion, Esparza has learned a lot about herself as a fighter. And she reclaimed the belt at UFC 274 last May. That chance came once again against an opponent that Esparza was all too familiar with, Namajunas. Despite the setback, Esparza continued to work on her game in order to get back to a title shot one day. Three months after claiming the belt, Esparza lost to Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 185. “It's always been really exciting and this great division full of very skilled fighters, but I think every year, just as the whole sport of MMA, it's just continuing to evolve and evolve and get better and better and we're seeing new rising stars come up in this division every day.” “I think the strawweight division has changed a lot in the last eight-plus years,” Esparza said. The ever-changing landscape of the division is something that makes it exciting. In addition to the legends and champions of the sport, there have been new names that have emerged into title contention, such as Amanda Lemos, Mackenzie Dern, and Marina Rodriguez. Since then, the strawweight division has had a lot of changes and the belt has bounced around between a few different people such as Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Namajunas, Jéssica Andrade, and Zhang Weili. I got to fight alongside my teammates on The Ultimate Fighter, including one of my best friends, Felice Herrig.” Walking out with the belt and then just seeing all my teammates and friends after. “That moment of pure, almost disbelief and happiness, that was the best feeling. “The night that I became champion, the biggest memory that comes to mind is the finish and the 'Oh, my gosh, my hand is being raised,’ feeling” Esparza said. “To win that historical title, that first title in the strawweight division, was the best feeling of my life and probably still is to this point,” Esparza said.īeing able to experience the victory with teammates, friends, and family is what made the night special for Esparza. It made the win that much more satisfying and left her with no questions like a decision win might have done. What made it even better for Esparza was that it was a finish, a third-round rear naked choke submission over Namajunas. Just keep doing what you're doing on the ground like you got this.' I was really hard on myself going into it, but I was able to dominate.” “My coach even told me in between rounds, 'It's not as bad as you thought. “My opponent had so much hype behind her, and I thought I wasn't going to be able to deal with her jiu jitsu and it was going to be really scary,” Esparza recalled.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |