It wasn’t a hard choice, but Carla Esparza gave up her Invicta FC belt to pursue UFC gold on The Ultimate Fighter 20. On Saturday, that decision paid off in a big way.
After a close opening round, Esparza used her wrestling to take control against Rose Namajunas. Cookie Monster scored a takedown in the second round and another in the third before locking up a rear-naked choke to become the first UFC strawweight titleholder.
While TUF 20 didn’t pull in excellent ratings, the fighters impressed. If this latest season of the UFC reality show is any indication, the women’s strawweight class should be a very entertaining addition to the Octagon.
Here are the matchups that could be next for Esparza, Namajunas and the rest of the TUF 20 finale competitors.