Former Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight champion Carla Esparza submitted Rose Namajunas at The Ultimate Fighter season 20 finale on Friday night to become the first UFC women’s strawweight champion.
The 115-pounders clashed in the main event of the evening, Namajunas arguably won the opening frame, bug Esparza showcased an obvious wrestling advantage and was clearly not scared of “Thug Rose’s” highly-regarded submission game.
“Cookie Monster” took over the bout in the second round, scoring takedowns and landing with big ground-and-pound at will.
Namajunas looked to be noticeably fatigued by round 3 and after giving up yet another takedown, got her back mounted and gave up a rear-naked choke that forced her to tap.
After scoring three straight submissions on TUF 20 to make it to the finals, the 22-year-old Namajunas has now lost back-to-back sanctioned fights to Tecia Torres and Esparza.
Esparza, who also won three straight TUF matchups to advance to the finals, has now rattled off five victories in a row, three of which came via stoppages.
Namajunas said she “felt like a kid” after the loss, though she noted she looks forward to improving in the gym and coming back better.