Carla Esparza announces birth of baby boy; shares adorable post-partum pictures
Carla Esparza recently announced the birth of her baby boy and shared some heartwarming post-partum pictures on her social media handles. The former UFC women's strawweight champion, who married her partner Matthew Lomeli in May 2022, announced her pregnancy in March 2023.
Esparza took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the news and revealed that her newborn son is healthy and has been named Donovan Lomeli. Referencing Bruce Buffer's iconic octagon line, 'Cookie Monster' wrote:
"And nowww, introducing Donovan Lomeli! 9-23-23. Best day of my life. 5 hours of active labor, 20 minutes of pushing with zero tearing, and our healthy baby boy was here! We are now resting at home and loving on our little guy. So in love."
Carla Esparza has been out of action since her women's strawweight title loss against Zhang Weili at UFC 281 in November 2022. Weili secured a second-round submission against Esparza.
Before that, the 35-year-old American was on an impressive six-fight winning streak, which included her infamous title win over Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 in May 2022. While 'Cookie Monster' managed to beat Namajunas, their five-round fight was widely slammed for being uneventful and boring.
Rose Namajunas admits Carla Esparza rematch was "one of the most boring fights ever"
Rose Namajunas isn't afraid of admitting that her title rematch against Carla Esparza was largely a dull affair. 'Thug Rose' recently opened up about her title loss at UFC 274 and shared her two cents on the criticism she received in the aftermath.
As mentioned, Namajunas and Esparza went head-to-head for the women's strawweight championship in a five-round contest in May 2022. After 25 minutes of little action, the 'Cookie Monster' edged out a split decision win. The loss also marked the end of Namajunas' second title reign in the women's strawweight division.
Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas were slammed by many for their lacklustre performance, with UFC CEO Dana White also expressing his dismay at how boring the fight turned out to be.
During a UFC Paris media day presser last month, Namajunas discussed her last fight at strawweight and said:
"No, that was definitely one of the most boring fights ever. I don’t know, I guess being the fighter it feels a little different when somebody-because it’s not just a sport for me, it’s an art, so when somebody critiques your art you get a little emotional about it.... Ultimately, that’s fair to say what they had to say because nothing really happened."