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

Esparza had beaten 4 of her last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 3 times.

In her last fight before this contest, she had lost to Weili Zhang at UFC 281 on 12th November 2022 by submission in the 2nd round in their UFC Women’s Strawweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Previous to that, she had won against Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 on 7th May 2022 by split decision in their UFC Women’s Strawweight championship fight at Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Going into that contest, she had beaten Yan Xiaonan at UFC Vegas 27 on 22nd May 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round in the United States.

Before that, she had defeated Marina Rodriguez at UFC Fight Island 3 on 25th July 2020 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

She was victorious against Alexa Grasso at UFC on ESPN+ 17 on 21st September 2019 by majority decision in their 3 round contest at Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico.

Activity check

Esparza's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 9 months and 14 days, meaning she had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 26 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.