1. Carla Kristen Esparza was born on October 10,1987 and is an American former professional mixed martial artist and wrestler who most recently competed in the women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in which she is the former two-time UFC Women's Strawweight Champion.
Carla Esparza first earned the UFC championship by winning a 16-woman tournament that was televised on the reality series The Ultimate Fighter.
In 2008 and 2009, Carla Esparza was a women's wrestling All-American with the Menlo Oaks.
Carla Esparza then expanded her mixed martial arts repertoire when she began training at Team Oyama during the summer of her junior year of college.
Carla Esparza was inserted in the bracket of the Bellator Season 3 115 lb women's tournament at Bellator 24.
Carla Esparza lost the fight to the heavily favored Fujii via second-round armbar submission.
In June 2011, Carla Esparza returned to the Bellator cage and faced fellow Season 3 tournament challenger Jessica Aguilar at Bellator 46.
On December 2,2011, Carla Esparza made her XFC debut against Felice Herrig at XFC 15: Tribute in Tampa, Florida.
Three months later, Carla Esparza was scheduled to face Angela Magana at Pandemonium VI for the MEZ Sports women's flyweight title.
In May 2012, it was announced that Carla Esparza had signed with the upstart all-female Invicta Fighting Championships promotion.
On July 28,2012, Carla Esparza made her Invicta debut at the promotion's second event, entitled Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs McMann, and faced Sarah Schneider on the preliminary card.
Carla Esparza won the fight via TKO at 4:28 of round two.
Carla Esparza returned to Invicta to face Lynn Alvarez at Invicta FC 3: Penne vs Sugiyama on October 6,2012.
Carla Esparza defeated Alvarez via TKO at 2:53 of round one.
Carla Esparza was expected to face Ayaka Hamasaki for the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship at Invicta FC 4: Carla Esparza vs Hyatt on January 5,2013.
Carla Esparza was then set to face Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Claudia Gadelha in the Invicta FC 4 main event, but Gadelha broke her nose in training and was forced to withdraw.
Carla Esparza ultimately faced Bec Hyatt for the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship.
Carla Esparza won the fight via unanimous decision to become the first Invicta FC Strawweight Champion.
Carla Esparza agreed to defend her title against Ayaka Hamasaki at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs Cyborg on July 13,2013.
On December 7,2013, Carla Esparza was set to defend her strawweight title against Claudia Gadelha at Invicta FC 7.
Carla Esparza vacated the title on December 11,2013 to compete on The Ultimate Fighter.
On December 11,2013, it was announced that Carla Esparza was signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship along with 10 other strawweight fighters to compete on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter, which would crown the first ever UFC Strawweight Champion.
Carla Esparza faced Angela Hill in the preliminary round and won via submission in the first round.
Carla Esparza then faced teammate Jessica Penne in the semifinal, and won by unanimous decision.
Carla Esparza was too strong, too smart and simply too good for the far less experienced Namajunas.
Carla Esparza underwent shoulder surgery in mid-2015 and subsequently was out of action for the rest of the year.
Carla Esparza returned at UFC 197 on April 23,2016, defeating Juliana Lima via unanimous decision.
Carla Esparza next faced Randa Markos on February 19,2017 at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Browne.
Carla Esparza faced Maryna Moroz on June 25,2017 at UFC Fight Night 112.
Carla Esparza faced Cynthia Calvillo on December 30,2017 at UFC 219.
Carla Esparza faced Claudia Gadelha on June 9,2018 at UFC 225.
Carla Esparza faced Tatiana Suarez on September 8,2018 at UFC 228.
Carla Esparza was scheduled to face Livia Renata Souza on April 27,2019 at UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs Hermansson.
Carla Esparza faced Alexa Grasso on September 21,2019 at UFC Fight Night 159.
Carla Esparza was scheduled to face Michelle Waterson on April 11,2020 at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Harris.
On June 3,2020, Carla Esparza's manager announced that she had signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC.
Carla Esparza was expected to face Marina Rodriguez on July 15,2020 at UFC Fight Night 172.
Carla Esparza was expected to face Amanda Ribas on December 12,2020 at UFC 256.
Carla Esparza faced Yan Xiaonan on May 22,2021 at UFC Fight Night 188.
Carla Esparza won the bout via TKO after dominating Yan on the ground throughout the bout.
Carla Esparza faced Rose Namajunas in a rematch for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship on May 7,2022 at UFC 274.
Carla Esparza won a largely uneventful fight by split decision to claim the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship for a second time.
Carla Esparza lost the bout and the belt by way of a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
Carla Esparza faced Tecia Pennington on October 5,2024 at UFC 307.
Carla Esparza lost the fight by unanimous decision and retired after the bout.
Carla Esparza stepped up on short notice to replace Rose Namajunas in a grappling match against Danielle Kelly at Fury Pro Grappling 3 on December 30,2021.
Carla Esparza married her husband Matthew Lomeli in May 2022.
In March 2023, Carla Esparza announced she was pregnant with the couple's first child.