Salt Lake City – We hear the jokes behind MMA retirements not being actual retirements, but former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza is adamant that her fight with Tecia Pennington at UFC 307 will indeed be her last.
“No matter the outcome, one minute finish, I think this is it for me,” Esparza told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“Kind of ready to move on that next chapter in life. Staying home with my son, maybe growing a bigger family, it’s going to be a little bit hard to get back in the octagon with a big belly like that.”
Esparza (19-7) burst onto the scene after winning TUF 20 where she defeated fellow former champion Rose Namajunas to win the entire show. One of the fighters she defeated in that tournament to become champion is her opponent on Saturday. Even though they’ve both had long careers in the UFC the matchup did not materialize until now.
“You never kind of know how matchups end up. Some matchups might make sense, but they just kind of never come to fruition. Here we are on my last fight and it’s happening. This is only my second rematch of my career,” she said.
“I’m excited. I think it’ll be a fun one.”
With her son in attendance on fight week Esparza has more motivation than ever to get the job done against Pennington.
“I want to go out there and make him proud. He won’t really get it now, but when he looks back I just want him to be proud of me,” she told Cageside Press.
“Get that win bonus, that scholarship fund, so yeah. That’s always more motivation for sure.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Carla Esparza above. She takes on Tecia Pennington at UFC 307.
