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Former champion Carla Esparza says UFC 307 is her retirement fight against Tecia Pennington

Former champion Carla Esparza says UFC 307 is her retirement fight against Tecia Pennington

Carla Esparza

Carla Esparza

A pioneer with nearly 15 years of experience in MMA and over two decades in combat sports has decided that his next fight will be his last.

UFC women’s strawweight champion (autotag) Carla Esparza (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) announced on Instagram on Friday that her bout against Tecia Pennington (13-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC) at UFC 307 will be her last.

Esparza said the opportunity arose to get outside to spend more time with his family.

“*RETIREMENT FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT* I will be stepping into the UFC Octagon for the last time on Saturday, October 5th,” Esparza wrote. “After nearly 15 years as a professional, fighting the best of the best, I feel it’s time to hang up my gloves. This choice was made for my body and my family; 20+ years of combat sports has taken its toll on me.

“I wanted to give my ‘Cookie Monster’ fans who have never come to see me live one last opportunity. It’s bittersweet to leave this sport that I love so much, but I’m happy to do it on my own terms. #UFC307”

Esparza, who turns 37 in October, fought on the regional scene early in her career, but her two forays into the bigger game for Bellator fell short. However, following a win over Felice Herrig, she moved to Invicta and won the strawweight title against Bec Rawlings.

When the UFC opened “The Ultimate Fighter” for women’s strawweights, she appeared on the show, then defeated Rose Namajunas to become the organization’s first 115-pound champion. And despite losing her first title defense to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015, she eventually went on a five-fight winning streak and defeated Namajunas in 2022 to win the title for the second time.

However, later that year, Esparza faced another two-time champion named Zhang Weili and was forced to surrender the belt. A little less than a year later, Esparza gave birth to her first child. This would be her first fight since giving birth.

UFC 307 (pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) takes place on October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Gallery

Photos: Carla Esparza through the years

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s UFC 307 event center.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Former champion Carla Esparza says UFC 307 is her retirement fight against Tecia Pennington