It stands out among a pack of bland warehouses in Irvine, a stark blue building with half of it housing a combat sports gym since 2006. Amid the spacious mats, several heavy bags fall victim to the thudding of fists and feet against padded leather, preceded by the grunts of a dozen fighters.
Colin Oyama, the man behind Team Oyama Training Center, studies and patrols, offering pointers and encouragement. When Oyama speaks, every fighter stops and listens.
At one bag is the smallest fighter in the gym, ducking and feinting, expressing air from her mouth like she’s shushing the bag as she’s cracking it.
All 5-foot-3 of Carla Esparza delivers strikes with punishing intentions, her feet reddened from the steady stream of kicks. When the session is over, everyone retrieves an antibacterial cloth and wipes down their target, even the first strawweight champion in UFC history.
A fighter with nothing to prove, Esparza has one final goal.
With Father Time, the undefeated, faceless opponent known for exposing the shortcomings of aging athletes on her heels, Esparza, just days before her 37th birthday, has decided to fight for the last time Saturday against Tecia Pennington at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City.
Former two-time UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza works out at Team Oyama Training Center on Sept. 25, 2024, in Irvine. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
And afterward, Esparza is ready to fully embrace Mother Time. She and her husband, Matthew Lomeli, knew this day would come after their son, Donovan, was born a little more than a year ago. Most important, though, was it was on her terms.
“I knew I wanted a family, and I knew I didn’t know how the pregnancy would go and the comeback. I knew I at least wanted to take one more, just to kind of prove to myself that I could,” the Tustin resident said.
Think being a first-time mom is tough? Try being a fighter as well. Fight camps don’t get more arduous, training for a final walk into the Octagon while every other waking moment is spent – physically, mentally and emotionally – on being the best mother you can be.
A post shared by Carla (@carlaesparza1)
On top of that is the challenge of breastfeeding while losing and cutting weight.
“That’s a lot of dedication and time commitment on her part. She’s had to be extra careful,” said Lomeli, a family practice physician in Anaheim. “I know she’s taken extra visits with lactation consultants to help her through the process as she’s taking her weight down and she’s preparing for the upcoming weight cuts and potentially losing breast milk. And so that’s definitely been something big and new.”
For nearly 15 years, Esparza has toiled as a professional MMA fighter. Through many ups and a few downs, Esparza has persevered.
Carla Esparza, left, connects with a left on Cynthia Calvillo during her unanimous-decision victory at UFC 219 on Dec. 30, 2017, at T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas. (Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
It is also, she says, the most selfish thing she has ever done. And the past year has provided a life-altering reality check.
“You have to be selfish to be successful. And I would say being a mom is the most selfless thing you can ever do. And I feel like to be the type of mom I want to be, I have to work very selflessly,” she said.
Hard camps are common, battling injuries, prepping for five-round fights, juggling media demands and all the pressure and scrutiny.
But now, Esparza has had to get creative, from stretching and foam rolling while having “tummy time” with Donovan to having treatments come to her. This camp has been a new beast.
“I would say just the scheduling, you know, like lack of sleep, just all the things that come with parenthood, especially being a mom,” she said. “The baby’s a little bit more reliant on you, just physiologically. In a lot of regards, this has been the hardest camp in my career.”
A post shared by Carla (@carlaesparza1)
THE LEGACY
It is impossible to tell the story of women’s MMA without Carla Esparza, like it or not.
Some fans bristle at Esparza’s grappling style, defined by her days competing with and against boys at Redondo Union High and becoming a two-time NAIA women’s wrestling All-American at Menlo College.
What’s undisputed are two of Esparza’s proudest accomplishments: never turning down an opponent and never missing weight.
Esparza (19-7) first won MMA gold when, at the age of 25, she claimed the inaugural Invicta FC strawweight belt. One year later, she found herself in a 16-woman tournament as the UFC unveiled its first women’s installment of its reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter,” with Esparza being crowned the queen of its new 115-pound division after mauling and eventually submitting Rose Namajunas in the finale Dec. 12, 2014.
Oyama, whom Esparza views as “a second dad,” has been by her side and in her corner the entire time, from when she was “a feisty high school kid” to now. When their pro fight journey began in 2010, no women were fighting in the UFC.
A post shared by Carla (@carlaesparza1)
“Man, it’s been a crazy ride,” Oyama said. “Never would have thought that it would turn into this.”
Another part of Esparza’s legacy is the second championship belt, which came at UFC 274 in May 2022 when she earned a split-decision victory over Namajunas.
A fellow two-time champion, Namajunas has lost only six times in her career. Esparza is the only one to defeat her twice.
And Esparza’s seven and a half years between title reigns – 2,612 days to be more specific – is a UFC record. Oyama says he has more respect for the second title victory because of the grind it took to get there.
“In that road up, we never got an unranked person. It’s not like they served us up with any tomato cans,” Oyama said.
Former two-time UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza trains with coach Colin Oyama at Team Oyama Training Center on Sept. 25, 2024, in Irvine. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
And now it comes down to her fight against the 35-year-old Pennington (13-7), who competed against Esparza on “The Ultimate Fighter” as Tecia Torres before marrying current bantamweight champ Rachel Pennington – who will also fight Saturday, defending her belt versus former champ Julianna Peña in the co-main event – in 2022 and having their baby June 1, 2023.
Not long ago, the new moms were messaging each other and bonding while pregnant.
“It’s very hard to find someone to relate to what we do, because it just comes with a unique set of challenges that nobody, unless they’re in this position, can really understand,” Esparza said. “So it was nice to have someone to chat with about those things.”
But now? It’s just business and they’ll punch each other in the face. And then life goes on, literally and figuratively, and a new life begins.
And maybe another life too.
“I think the other part of this is her seeing, with this fight in particular, the next chapter in her life, and being excited about that,” Lomeli said. “Knowing that she’s going to miss this, being excited about the next opportunity for her really to focus and dedicate her efforts and raising her son and potentially another kid.”
Esparza says she’ll still be involved in the sport, whether it’s helping train and coach at Team Oyama or competing in grappling tournaments. She loves the sport too much.
But now it’s time to be selfish, only this time at home.
Related Articles
Daniel Dubois knocks out Anthony Joshua to retain heavyweight title
UFC 306: Dvalishvili wins unanimous decision over O’Malley
Canelo Alvarez wins unanimous decision in title defense against Edgar Berlanga
Dana White says UFC 306 at the Sphere will be a ‘game changer’
Canelo Alvarez is massive favorite over Edgar Berlanga in title fight
“I’m going to be a stay-at-home mom, and if I won the lottery tomorrow, I would still … that’s what I would want to do,” Esparza said. “I’m so excited to be at home with my son and have fun with him and enjoy all the moments and just really be present in all those moments and play with him and help him grow and accomplish his dreams. And just to support my husband and his dreams.
“It’s time to step out of the spotlight and being the one on the big stage, and kind of step back and help my family.”
UFC 207
When: Saturday
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
How to watch: prelims (3 p.m., ESPN+); main card (7 p.m., PPV via ESPN+)
Former two-time UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza works out at Team Oyama Training Center on Sept. 25, 2024, in Irvine. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
