Former UFC champ Carla Esparza gives first public glimpse of pregnancy
Former two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza has given the world its first glimpse of her pregnancy which was announced earlier this year.
The 35-year-old “Cookie Monster” and husband, Matthew Lomeli, told the world their big news earlier this year.
On March 25th, the former champ announced her pregnancy via social media.
“So we’ve been keeping a little secret for the last 14 weeks… we’re expecting! Baby Cookie Monster 🍪 Grand Entrance September 2023 🥰💙💗💙💗
Excited for this next chapter… and hoping to make my return early to mid 2024😉👊🏽”
So we’ve been keeping a little secret for the last 14 weeks… we’re expecting! Baby Cookie Monster 🍪 Grand Entrance September 2023 🥰💙💗💙💗
Excited for this next chapter… and hoping to make my return early to mid 2024😉👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/rdYp9f2rh5— Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) March 26, 2023
Today, Esparza posted photos of a trip that her and husband made to Costa Rica while attending another wedding. While there, and doing some surfing, “Cookie Monster” posed for a photo on the beach.
Esparza and Lomeli were married in May 2022. Baby Esparza is due in September 2023.
By winning the tournament on The Ultimate Fighter, Esparza advanced to the final on December 12, 2014, against Rose Namajunas.
After dominating much of the fight with her grappling and ground strikes, Esparza defeated Namajunas via rear-naked choke in the third round to become the inaugural UFC Strawweight Champion.
In her first title defense, Esparza faced kickboxer Joanna Jedrzejczyk on March 14, 2015, at UFC 185. Jedrzejczyk won via TKO in the second round, and the title in the process.
Esparza faced Rose Namajunas in a rematch for the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship on May 7, 2022 at UFC 274. Esparza won a largely uneventful fight by split decision to claim the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship for a second time. With the victory, Esparza set a record for longest time between UFC title reigns by any fighter, male or female, at 2,612 days.
In her first defense, Esparza faced Zhang Weili on November 12, 2022, at UFC 281. She lost the bout and the belt by the way of a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
