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Former UFC champ Carla Esparza certainly felt what it was like to fight in enemy territory at UFC Mexico.
Jeremy Stephens wasn’t the only fighter attacked by the UFC Mexico City crowd Saturday night.
Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza, who defeated Alexa Grasso by majority decision in the co-main event, said after the fight that one fan dumped a beer on her. Grasso, Esparza’s opponent, is a native of Mexico.
“I understand the Mexican fans are so passionate, and they really stand behind their fighters,” Esparza said in her post-fight scrum (via MMA Fighting). “I’ve definitely fought in a lot of people’s hometowns, and this was definitely the most passionate crowd I’ve ever been in front of. The sad thing was, there were a couple of bad seeds in the crowd. I was walking out and someone poured beer on me. It made me really sad, because people win and lose, but you can’t control the judges. I felt that I fairly won the fight. It was just really sad for me.”
Later in the night, fans pelted Stephens with beer and popcorn after his main-event fight with Mexican Yair Rodriguez ended in a 15-second no contest due to a Rodriguez eye poke. Esparza said she saw what happened to “Lil Heathen” and wishes fans had more respect for MMA fighters, considering how hard they work.
“I hate that type of behavior,” Esparza said. “This is a sport. We all go out there and we give it our all. We work so hard to lead up to these fights. I wish some of those fans — obviously, that’s not everyone here — but I wish those people would have more respect.”