When Carla Esparza beat rising contender Yan Xiaonan it seemed as though her long road back to title contention was complete. The first women to wear strawweight gold in the UFC, Esparza went on to lose four of her next seven bouts after gaining the title. By the end of 2018, the idea of a career revival for the ‘Cookie Monster’ seemed well out of reach.
The last couple years have seen a fantastic run of quality showings for the longtime Team Oyama talent, however. And five straight victories, capped off by that Xiaonan win should have left her all alone among contenders for Rose Namajunas’ belt—nearly seven years after Esparza first defeated ‘Thug Rose’ to win it.