Carla Esparza came off of TUF after beating the competition and won the title taking out tournament favorite Rose Namajuanas with a submission in the third round. That made two title wins in a row for the fighter who had picked up the Invicta FC title Strawweight title the fight before. Unfortunately, she lost the title to the current champion Joanna in the next fight with TKO loss in the second round. That was just her third loss in her professional career. Both of her other losses came by split decision and one of those came to Jessica Aguilar.
When the UFC announced their divisions for the women, the only girl left out of the UFC, due to another contract, was Jessica Aguilar and everyone though that she would be a champion if she signed with the promotion. Having won ten straight fights including a title for the WSOF and having defended it twice it was easy to see why everyone though she had a good shot at being champion. Unfortunately, when she finally was released on her contract and was free to sign with the UFC she faced off with another top contender in Claudia Gadelha.
Gadelha was a potential first title defense for Esparza but she lost a split decision to Joanna. This made her want a rematch with the current champion, but an instant rematch didn’t happen and she face doff with Aguilar who she beat by unanimous decision. Although Aguilar sat out for a nearly a year before she returned to the MMA fight scene. Now, Gadelha is set to coach TUF opposite the current champion which will culminate in a title fight and the winner of a match between Esparza and Aguilar could be a fight away from a title fight. Who knows? This is one of the biggest fights they can make for this division with Rosa Namajuanas and Tecia Torres facing off for what is likely to be the next title shot. The winner of this fight may be just one more win away from another shot at UFC gold.