New UFC champion Carla Esparza looks forward to potentially dominant reign

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Dec. 12, 2014 | 11:15 p.m.

Note: Full results from the card available at the bottom of the page.

Carla Esparza welcomed the hardest road possible to the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight championship, and proceeded to make it look easy.

Esparza rolled through her fourth straight opponent as a contestant on “The Ultimate Fighter” 20 Friday night at the Pearl at the Palms, submitting Rose Namajunas at 1:26 of the third round to claim the 115-pound championship.

“It just feels that much more satisfying as opposed to something just being handed to me,” Esparza said. “It just feels that much better. Holding that belt is just that much sweeter.”

Unlike fighters such as Ronda Rousey and Jose Aldo who inherited titles when the UFC absorbed other promotions, Esparza was given no such guarantees. The UFC placed the Invicta champion into a 16-fighter bracket on the reality show earlier this year.

Esparza, a 27-year-old from Redondo Beach, Calif., never complained, mainly because surviving a gauntlet of top competition would erase any questions and validate that she was No. 1.

“It’s so rewarding because now there is no doubt,” Esparza said.

There can’t be, not with the way Esparza dispatched Namajunas. The 22-year-old from Milwaukee stole the focus of “TUF” from Esparza with an electric style.

Namajunas submitted all three of her opponents in the opening rounds, washing away doubts that she was too young and raw to win a UFC championship. Namajunas entered the octagon as a slight favorite before Esparza reverted her to pre-“TUF” levels.

“I kind of felt like a kid in there,” Namajunas said.

Both fighters got their licks in at the beginning. Esparza landed several straight rights in the first round, but Namajunas was able to answer with some creativity.

“She caught me with a couple strikes,” Esparza said, “a great head kick that sent stars to my head. I was like, ‘whoa,’ but every fight I prepare for everything.”

Esparza began relying on a glaring strength advantage. After taking Namajunas down four times in the first round but continually letting her get back up, Esparza got heavier on top at the end of the second.

She poured on ground-and-pound to nearly earn a TKO before the bell saved Namajunas. But Esparza was able to carry the intensity into the decisive third.

“She completely dominated,” UFC President Dana White said. “She took her down at will. I say every season, the best rises to the top. And it definitely did tonight.”

To celebrate her victory, Esparza considered heading down to Phoenix for tomorrow night’s UFC on Fox 13. A strawweight bout between Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk — two fighters who were not included on the show — is on the preliminary card.

The winner is expected to emerge as Esparza’s first challenger. Having already beaten Jessica Penne, Tecia Torres and Angela Hill — all of whom snagged wins on Friday’s card — during “TUF”, Esparza is just a couple wins away from having a bona fide dynasty.

“It’s something I would love but it’s also something that I don’t expect,” Esparza said.

That’s not out of a lack of confidence. It’s just the approach Esparza has found works for her.

She took nothing for granted upon sacrificing her Invicta championship to join the UFC, and that turned out fine enough.

“I had a lot of expectations on me being the No. 1 seed, the first pick and coming in as the champ,” Esparza said. “I didn’t know if I could do it but I proved myself and that’s all I wanted to do — just be No. 1 and prove I was No. 1.”

Check below for the rest of the results from “The Ultimate Fighter” 20 finale.

Charles Oliveira failed to make any new fans, but he nabbed the all-important victory in a lightweight bout against Jeremy Stephens. Oliveira took a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over Stephens by winning the first two rounds with submission attempts, though he stalled and showed no offense in the third much to the chagrin of the crowd.

For five and a half minutes, Daron Cruickshank and K.J. Noons engaged in the most exciting fight of the night. Then, the strikes stopped prematurely. The lightweight bout was ruled a no contest after Cruickshank lost vision in one eye following an inadvertent eye poke by Noons.

Yancy Medeiros paralyzed Joe Proctor with spinning back kick to the body, and finished from there. Medeiros won with a guillotine choke at 4:37 of the first round after the strike stiffly collapsed Proctor to the ground.

In a wild back-and-forth strawweight fight, Jessica Penne prevailed over Randa Marcos via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29). Penne won by continually threatening her opponent on the ground, though Marcos was more effective on the feet.

Popular strawweight Felice Herrig wants to be known as more than a striker. She made a step in that direction to finish off the preliminary card, as Herrig submitted Lisa Ellis via armbar at 3:05 of the first round.

Locally based Heather Jo Clark pulled off the only upset of the preliminary card. Clark took two of three rounds on every judges’ scorecard to win a unanimous decision over Bec Rawlings in a strawweight contest.

Joanne Calderwood beat Seo Hee Ham by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) in a strawweight bout. Ham could never get inside of Calderwood, who tagged the newcomer repeatedly with strikes.

Angela Magana may not have registered a moment of success in her strawweight bout against Tecia Torres. Torres routed Magana with a unanimous-decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

Aisling Daly submitted Alex Chambers by arm bar at 4:53 of the first round in a 118-pound catchweight bout. Daly missed weight to lose the official strawweight distinction.

Angela Hill beat Emily Kagan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) in a strawweight bout. Hill tore Kagan up with punches and stayed out of trouble in the grappling exchanges.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.