Esparza vs Pennington

Who won Esparza vs Pennington?

Tecia Pennington beat Carla Esparza by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the prelims of UFC 307, on Saturday 5th October 2024 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Tecia Pennington.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Women’s Strawweight division, which meant the weight limit was 115 pounds (8.2 stone or 52.2 KG).

Esparza vs Pennington stats

Carla Esparza stepped into the octagon with a record of 19 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 4 by submission.

Tecia Pennington made her way to the cage with a record of 13 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 1 of those win coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Carla Esparza's 16th fight in the UFC, having made her debut for the promotion in 2014. Tecia Pennington marked her 18th fight for them, having made her own debut for the promotion in 2014.

Carla Esparza's UFC record stood at 10-6-0, while Tecia Pennington's came in at 11-7-0.

The stats suggested Esparza had an advantage in power over Pennington, with a 21% knock out percentage over Pennington's 8%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Esparza had an advantage over Pennington, with a 21% submission rate over Pennington's 8%.

Carla Esparza was the older woman by 2 years, at 37 years old.

Esparza had a 2-inch reach advantage.

Esparza was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 6 more fights, and made her debut in 2010, 2 years and 7 months earlier than Pennington, whose first professional fight was in 2012. She had fought 9 more professional rounds, 72 to Pennington's 63.

Esparza vs Pennington form

Tecia Pennington had beaten 1 of her last 5 opponents.

In her last fight leading up to this contest, she had lost to Tabatha Ricci at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Nascimento on 11th May 2024 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, United States.

Previous to that, she had been beaten by Mackenzie Dern at UFC 273 on 9th April 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville.

Going into that contest, she had won against Angela Hill at UFC 265 on 7th August 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Toyota Center, Houston.

Before that, she had been defeated by Weili Zhang at UFC 235 on 2nd March 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

She had lost to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC on FOX 30 on 28th July 2018 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Canada.

Activity check

Pennington's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 10 months and 22 days, meaning she had been fighting on average every 1 year, 4 months and 18 days. In those fights, she fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

What time did Esparza vs Pennington start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 10:50 PM UTC , which was 6:50 PM EST or 3:50 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 11:50 PM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Esparza vs Pennington?

Carla Esparza was a 3/2 (+150) underdog going into the contest, while Tecia Pennington made her way into the ring at 57/100 (-180) with oddsmakers.