 This is Startup of Storefront. Carla Esparza is a two-time UFC women's drawweight champion and became the current title holder when she defeated Rose Namayunas. Typically, a fighter's career only lasts a couple of years, and when they have a huge win, they have to make the money stretch until the next fight. Their pay is not consistent, and after one fight, their career can be completely over. Competitors in the UFC are also required to become ultimate entrepreneurs as their longevity is directly tied to their audience. In this episode, we'll discuss what it's like winning the ultimate fighter, her mindset going into the ring, and how it felt walking down the aisle on her wedding day, wearing her UFC title belt. All right, welcome to the podcast on today's show. We're talking to the champ, Carla Esparza. Thanks for joining us. Well, the kooky monster is in the building. Thanks so much for having me. When did you first start? Like, what was the thing that got you into mixed martial arts, fighting? What was it? Well, I started wrestling on the boys' team in high school, and it just kind of like was by chance. I was lifting weights, and I'd always been really strong for my size. And when the football players was like, you're so strong for your size, I'm like five foot nothing. He's like, you should try wrestling. And I'm like, what is that? Okay, let me go give it a shot and just kind of fell in love with it. Yeah, and then at what moment are you like, okay, like I'm a really good wrestler? Are you destroying men? Is that the thing? Like you're just like crushing everybody, all the women, all the men. Was there no women's team, I'm guessing? There definitely wasn't a women's team at the time. I mean, it was growing really fast at the time, but it was, if you were a girl wrestling the area, you were like one or two of a whole team. If a team even had a girl, and then you go to a tournament and everybody's like, the girl's wrestling, and circling around you and watching your match. Got it. But at what point are you like, you know you're good at this? So there's one thing where interest becomes, oh wow, this is like, not so much a career, but I'm very, very good at this. And now I gotta take it more seriously than maybe I originally thought. So I mean, I started wrestling and I was always good for a girl. And don't get me wrong, I beat a lot of guys. Does that bother you when people say that? Not necessarily. I mean, it just kind of depends what you're talking about. It's like, you know, my trainer's always like, you're not a strong girl, you're a strong human, like you're a strong person. And I always loved that he said that. But for me, I just kind of like let these things fly by, like whatever they can say what they want. Still a compliment, you know. And at the time, you know, it was so rare to be a girl doing it. You didn't really like have much to compare it to. But I definitely felt that I was good and I was beating guys like some guys I would win and lose. The first time I felt that I was really good was when I went to my first girls tournament, I actually got to compete with other females. And I went and I crushed it. I think I like pinned everyone and I got like maybe first or second place. And nobody went with me to this tournament, you know, my coaches were like, if you wanna go, you know, go. So I didn't have a coach. I just kind of went. My mom took me to this tournament, you know, cause the coaches were coaching the guys at a tournament. So, but it was just, you know, it was something I wanted to do. I took a chance and it, you know, it led me here. How far into your wrestling career was that, that moment of realization? So I started wrestling my junior in high school and I think that happened kind of mid season or something in my junior year. Oh, it was pretty early on. Yeah. And I mean, I was like, I was naturally pretty gifted. So the sport of wrestling didn't come easy to me cause it doesn't come easy to anyone. You know, I think it's constantly ranked the toughest sport on the planet. But, you know, I definitely, I was always really strong and it did come somewhat natural for me. So, you know, I just kind of fell in love with it and I was strong at it. And yeah, it all went well. I think I went to nationals my first year and I took like 10th at girls nationals. So, yeah. And at the time, so it's like, it's also this, like at least from my perspective, right? So for me, you have like WWE and then you had like the Olympics and people like in college, right? But then it was boxing. And so at the same time, you have this like emerging sport, UFC, Dana's trying to get this thing off the ground. They're doing TV shows, what you were on. And so, but the intersection of this was like very much in line with your career, which seems crazy. Like do you ever think about how crazy that seems that everything intersected almost at the right time? It almost feels like stars just kind of aligned with everything. Because when I started fighting, I've been fighting professionally for 12 and a half years. So at the time, there wasn't many opportunities for women, let alone in the UFC. So it was just kind of like, this is fun. I love doing this. Let me just do it until I can't do it anymore. You know, this is not like there was any money in it. I think I made $800 in my first fight. I paid $850 for medicals. Oh wow, okay. So, you know, it was just kind of a career of passion at the time, but like you said, stars kind of aligned. And it came to a point where I kept with it and it was now it's something that I can make a good living at. Yeah, explain to me how you got on UFC fighter. What did that look like? How did that happen? Well, for the ultimate fighter, I actually got, I got a call from Dana White. I was already the Invicta UFC champion at the time, which was the top organization for women at the time before women were allowed in the UFC. And, you know, I had just gotten off a fight or I was supposed to fight, but my opponent like didn't make weight or something. And, you know, I was kind of bummed and I was like, you know, this sucks. And then I'm at the gym the next week and I get a call from a 702 number, Las Vegas. And I'm like, who is this? You know, I pick up the phone. Hey Carla, this is Dana White. I just wanted to welcome you to the UFC. You're gonna be on the ultimate fighter. I'm just in shock. I'm like, is this really happening right now? The question is, are you really Dana? Yeah, because, I mean, at the time, like I said, you know, women weren't really in the UFC. Rhonda Rousey had kind of started that, but you know, that was still fairly fresh. Yeah. And so then you get on the show and then what is this actually like? Like, does it feel like you're very much part of a startup in some way? I would say it, I mean, you know that you're making history at the time because they'd never done anything like this had all in all women's squad. And is that scary? Or is that like, okay, cool, we're making history. Let's go, we're gonna do this. Or is it like, oh, because at the same time you're kind of like a guinea pig? I mean, you're so focused on your goal, which was the belt because they didn't have a women's division this season was the first time that they crowned a champion from the ultimate fighter, which normally this show is a show trying to kind of like get, you know, people, a contract in the UFC, like a lower tier contract. So these are like lower level guys, like I'm trying to get my chance to fight for the UFC. Yeah. But this was like, already girls that were established in the division top girls. So you're just like so focused on, you know, winning at the time. Yeah. But did it feel like MTV Road Rules or like, was it like, they don't give you alcohol, do they? No. Yeah, oh yeah. They do. There's a full bar there. You can order anything you want. And it's just like, how about it? You know, they've had seasons of the ultimate fighter where people have gotten wasted and kind of made it full of themselves. And that was definitely one of the thing my manager like pressed to me and his other female fighter, Felice, was like, do not go on that show and get wasted. Right. Don't become a reality star, become a UFC star. Exactly, exactly. I just like my palms start sweating, hearing about all this. I'm like, oh no. Does your family ever call like Carla, please? Carla, come on. Chill out. I'm tired of watching you. Yeah. It's been like almost 20 years. I think they're like used to it by now. Oh my God. Is Matthew used to it? Matthew, congratulations, new hobby. Is he used to it? I don't think so. No, it will be hard to watch if, yeah. If you knew the person. If you knew the person, yeah. We belong to this tennis club and some people there are like actors. And so we've like, now when I watch these television shows, they're on it and I can't watch it. You don't believe them as the character they're playing. Not at all. I'm like, no. Yeah. I'm like, I know this guy. I played with this guy. I'm like, no. And all of a sudden videos being like, dude, you were looking chubby back then. They're like, I'll just make fun of them. And it's funny. But then I can't watch a show. Right. And so with this, it's like, it's like too close. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's like. No, it's crazy because even me, who's been doing combat sports for almost 20 years, I'm like, I see my close friends fighting. And I know, I know, I train with them every day. And like, I know what it takes. I know what they can take. But it's still like, you get like, my stomach goes nuts. I get like my whole, I feel through my whole body. And you know, Matt, who my husband, my new husband, who's like a doctor and like, you know, never really hardly watched fighting before. You know, and he's just kind of like, oh my gosh. And the first fight that he's ever gone to of mine live because of COVID has been this last one, where I'm fighting for the title, the big one. So there's so much pressure. There's so much media. Like he's getting interviewed by like ESPN. They're coming to the house or this promotion and that this newspaper and whatever. And he's, he's kind of just thrown in the mix. You know, it's kind of hard to go from like, nothing, he, I think he has like 200, couple hundred followers on his social media. Like he's not really like into that kind of stuff. But you know, because he's used to speaking in front of his company a lot. Like I think he, he's, he's good with the interviews, but like as far as being at the fight, I think he's just probably losing his mind. Losing his mind. Yeah. I would be too. I would be like, I'm gonna throw you, you're gonna stare at me and we're not gonna watch. Don't look this way. Don't look at the screen. Don't look at the cage. Like Billy Bean pacing back and forth in the clubhouse because he couldn't watch the game. He's too close to it. Yeah. And especially like, I mean, let's be honest, like I'm sure watching a female get in there and like get punched is a little bit harder than watching a male. So I like everything on top of it. For me, I'm like, oh no. It's just anyone getting beat up. I think both of them would be hard. But you know, there's just like this cultural thing with like women and, you know, like they're not, they're like softer and not as aggressive, you know? Which is obviously not the case. But like, you know, for him who's not been so involved on that scene, it's kind of like, oh my gosh, you know, like, but he handled it well and, you know, I'm glad I was able to win for him so that he didn't get all freaked out. Yeah. Huge win. Huge win. After eight years, like to come back and regain the title, made some records, got a proctome with the bell. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Now, what do you do when like, so you have that moment and you're on cloud nine. Let's start the build. So that day, what are you, are you sleeping? Can you sleep? Oh yeah. I slept. I slept in. So, you know, before the, before the fight, you have a weigh-in. And because- So the day of or the day before? The day before. So like, the fight is Saturday and you weigh in Friday in the morning from nine to 11. Okay. And then that, the night before that, you're not sleeping because you're so dehydrated. You're cutting weight, you know, you're depriving yourself of liquids. You're just like, oh, like I'm miserable right now. We'll be right back to the episode after this quick break. Warby Parker offers everything you need for happier eyes and you can shop with them online or in stores. Check out Warby Parker's home try-on program for yourself. Order five pairs of glasses to try at home for free. It ships free to you and includes a prepaid return shipping label. Try five pairs of glasses at home for free at warbyparker.com slash ship it. This episode is also brought to you by Fight Camp. They offer thousands of classes with new workouts added each week, so you'll always find something new. You can get a killer workout done in as little as 20 minutes. And don't worry if you don't have any boxing experience because Fight Camp has your back. They've created programs specifically designed to teach you the basics of boxing and kickboxing so you can build a strong foundation. Fight Camp even comes with all the gear you need to start boxing from home, including a freestanding punching bag, boxing gloves, quick hand wraps, and smart punch trackers that provide real-time data during your workout. So head on over to joinfightcamp.com slash startup to storefront and get free shipping with your first order. Now back to the episode. Do you visualize at all in the pre-match hours like leading up into it? Yeah, I definitely do. I didn't used to. So like there's always room to improve in things to like learn in the sport, whether it's nutrition, your training, your mental, your mental. And for me, like the mental was something that I kind of shifted maybe like five years back or something when I had come off two, my first time in my career losing two in a row and I was like, dude, like this isn't cool. Like I need- Did you think it was over? Or did you know you were gonna come back? No, I didn't think it was over. I knew it wasn't over, but it's just like I need to make some adjustments. Like this isn't working. Like something needs to change. I made a lot of changes, but one of the big changes I made was my mental. And you know, I never used to pay attention to my thoughts, but upon that like change and I did some reading. It was like, dude, I'm thinking negative all the time. Like this person's gonna beat me and they're like, I'm gonna go against them. There's so much better. What if I can't do this? What if I can't do that? And I was like, no, like I became like, I changed my thinking. I was like, I got this. I started visualizing, you know, just really going through the process of like how I'm gonna win. Like one book I read was just like visualize like what you're gonna do. Like, you know, if you wanna get married, don't sleep on one side of your bed like, or in the middle of your bed, leave room for your other. If you want this brand new car, leave room in your garage because that car is gonna be in that spot. Like, and at our gym, I have this trophy case for my UFC belt, my Invicta belt is, and I was like, this empty spot right here, I kept visualizing my new UFC belt. I was like, this is where it's going. And I kept looking at that like, you know, every week I would stare at that when we would watch footage. And I'd be like, this is where my belt's going. And I kept thinking then before the fight, I, you know, ran through my scenario. How's it gonna go? Yeah. It's amazing. It's incredible to think about, because like when I, I was a swimmer and I am not competing so much against the people next to me as I am against the clock. I know when I walk into the pool that it's going to be the same distance, the setup's gonna be the same more or less. And so I could visualize my race to like a 10th of what I would end up going. And I could visualize the amount of strokes I was gonna take, the amount of dolphin kicks off the walls. But with fighting, you can't really do that because your opponent's gonna throw something that you're not expecting and you have to adapt in the moment. So I was curious about what you're actually visualizing. When you have that empty trophy case, are you just envisioning the belt in there? Or are you also visualizing the fight itself? I would just envision, I even took a picture of it like the day before my last day training at the gym, I took a picture of it so I could like look it in and be like, that's where my belt is going. And when I would look at the case, I'd be like, that's where my belt's going. Sometimes I would picture my hand raise. And I've had my hand raise like many times. So sometimes I'd even look at a picture. I'm like, I'm just like going through that feeling again of like when I did have that success, I was like, that's how it's gonna feel. Sometimes I would even like be in bed and I'd be like, yes, like, I even got chills in my body just raising my hands right now, like feeling that. Awesome. Yeah. That's what's up. The visualization I did before the fight, like you said, anything could happen, but it's not about anything, they can throw anything about me. It's about me imposing my will, me pushing the fight where I want to go. So it wasn't about them, it was about me. So you're so locked in, like you're from the future, you know what it looks like. Yeah. And don't worry, Ryan, went through a couple of different scenarios. I'm like, okay, like I don't get the first one. I got to keep moving. I got to do this and I got to do that. Maybe I went through two or three scenarios, but I did go through scenarios and all of them had me with my hand raised, you know? So yeah, now that's kind of was my visualization process. Well, how about for after the fight? So like, you know, your hand gets raised and then I imagine like the recovery process is somewhat lengthy because you did just go through a fight and you probably don't go through, you know, all of that turmoil on your body in training. You know, when you spar in training, I'm sure like you're not trying to get beat to hell because it does take a while to recover. And so like for you, how long after a fight until you feel or start to feel like a hundred percent again? Every fight is different. Every fight is different. Like you never know what injuries you're going to get from the fight. I trained very smart for me, training a huge part of my longevity, which that's been one of the things I'm most proud of because not a lot of people can perform at this level. Like I've been in the top 10 for 11 years of this, you know, maybe the top five even, you know, I've always been at the top and you know, the longevity for me, a huge part of that has been maintaining my health, you know, being foam rolling, stretching, warming up, doing all these things, getting like recovery bodywork done, you know, just making, and not only that, but when I'm in training, choosing my partners, like who's, who do I trust? Who's going to keep me safe? I'm not like, oh, this guy has, I'm gonna jump with this new guy and he has an ego. He wants to beat me up cause I'm a UFC fighter and, but I'm, and maybe I'm strong, but I'm also 40 pounds heavier or lighter than him. And I get hurt. So, you know, just like all these things are really important for the longevity of it for me. What's the business side of it? Like, like, does Dana say, hey, look, we got this fight for you in a couple of years or do some things have to happen for like a new emerging person to come in and basically go after your title? How does, how does that work? Like how far in advance will you, will you know that, okay, I got a fight or potentially fight? You know, this weekend actually there, Dana White just, you know, said like, this fight that's happening is the number one contender fight. So in Singapore right now, they're having a fight that's like the winner of this fight gets a title fight. So basically fighting me. And then it's like, I don't know if anyone's going to get hurt from that fight. Like you don't know what's going to happen cause like I said, every fight's different. Like I even, you know, back to what you said earlier, I did a jiu-jitsu match and, you know, for New Year's and I was like, oh, I'm just easy jiu-jitsu match. They made, you know, whatever. And I got split, my eye got split open to the bone. I was invited to that. I was going to go. Yeah. And I had like had to, you know, jump on the plane and you know, within 24 hours and have a plastic surgery and surgeon in OC like there was like, they had to sew underneath the layer, the muscle and on top. And then it's like, okay. But then in this fight, I had like no injuries. I actually had some, no hardly any, you know, a couple of nagging things, but it's like, I'm fine. But, you know, you never know what the fight, you could tear, you could tear something. Like it just depends. Every fight is different. Yeah. From a business perspective though, just for you, like how are you thinking about, so you win a fight, do you have a lot of people knocking at your door for endorsements? Like what is the thing that you're like annoyed by maybe, but also it's also an opportunity, right? It's a real opportunity to make more money or to have some income. I wish the door was like knocking more for endorsements. This sport like is so saturated, so big. Now there are so many fighters and everyone wants, you know, these opportunities. And, you know, we kind of like leave that to our managers a lot. They kind of deal with the sponsorships a lot. But like I said, when the UFC decided to make it a uniform thing, we count where their stuff out to the cage. It kind of made it, you know, less appealing for companies, you know, because they're not feeling a part of, you know, your journey as much. It's basically just social media base. So, you know, don't be wrong, there are some great opportunities to come up where you're just like, what? Like, I get paid this much money for this and it's awesome, but you know, it's not, it's definitely not a reliable source of income that you can just count on. Neither is fighting, I mean, like I said, injuries and this and that. Anything could happen, yeah. Is that a big thing in your mind when you're entering the fight too? It's like the potential payday? Or does that not really matter? Cause you're so locked in on the fight. Not on the day of the fight. I mean, that's in contract negotiation time. You know, your manager, you know, books get you a new contract when it's time to re-up and you're just like, okay, you know, what am I trying to get? But the thing is most fighters are fighting for a fight and a win bonus. So it's just basically you can walk home with half the amount or like double that. So I'm sure every fighter goes in and in. How do you look at that? Are you like, I'm gonna get the purse plus some? Or are you thinking, this is my worst case? Every fighter, like, so you got a plan for the worst. Like you even got a plan for no money because fight camps are so intensive that people get injured a lot. So you might not even make it to the fight. So it's like I said, being careful is such a huge part of the sport. But yeah, I mean, definitely like you go into there thinking like, okay, I got a plan for the, you know, making half that amount of money and what's my year gonna look like? Could I get injured from the fight and be out for a year? It's like you almost got to like, you're getting this big payday potentially in one day and then you kind of got to like plan for, like not having any money for a long time. But then again, you could fight again in a couple months. So you don't know. So you have to be like a little bit more careful. It's not like, you know, you're a lawyer or a doctor where you know you kind of have this salary where you know you're gonna get paid for years till you're 60. It's like, we only have a short career too. So some people are done fighting by the time they're in their early 30s. Yeah. So. It's like the ultimate entrepreneurship. I wanna circle back to something. It's the UEC, not the UFC. That's crazy. You talked about fighters have to be marketable, you know, in order to like ensure that they stay in the UFC. And I'm curious about your personal approach to that. And if you lean heavily into one aspect of social media or like what your individual approach is to staying marketable and like a, you know, a constant presence in people's minds and feeds. You know, that's hard because there's these constant, you know, ever-evolving changes. There's a new, okay, it was like now there's, you know, Facebook, now there's Twitter. Okay, Instagram is a thing. Now it's TikTok and you gotta constantly be up on it. Do you do it yourself or does your manager do a team? I do it myself. Sometimes my manager will kind of make certain things for me, but not like super often, but you kind of gotta stay up on it. And I definitely used to be more like heavily social media because there wasn't opportunities as much. So it was like, oh my gosh, I need to get sponsors. I need to, you know, make sure that people care about me as a fighter. Cause it's not like you're on an NFL team where like you're just a part of like the brand is the team. Not to say like there aren't stars on the team. But if you're, you're just like, yeah, I'm on this team, but somebody might not know like every athlete on that team. Whereas fighter, you have to make people care about your story. So I, you know, I used to be like super involved with posting my social media all the time. Not so much in the last year. I feel like I'm getting older and like these kids are coming up with like these constant new trends. And it's hard to like- The reels are everything now. These videos. The reels, yeah. So I feel like Instagram, they're so good at keeping up with trends. That's everything. They are now becoming gearing more towards like this TikTok-esque. It's 100% true. You know, and it's like, but I remember back in the day, there was Snapchat and I was on that or not Snapchat. What was the other one? Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. Vine. And now it's turning to TikTok and I'm like, what do I do? If you post pictures. Yeah, it does. And now I realize like the trend is lower on the views and the likes and stuff. So it's kind of like, dude, you've got to get with this new TikTok thing, these voiceovers and these like clip, clip, clip, clip. And it's like, oh my gosh, I got to learn something else. They can like engineer views now based on the trends. They're like, yeah, this is the trend. And so watch this, we're gonna- Just post this and they're gonna, they're gonna push you to the front. And you see it. You see it. And you're like, wow. You can really kind of make your way into the algorithm. Algorithm, yeah. It's not that- It's huge. And it's the kids that are, not the kids, but you know, you guys that are so- You kiddos. You own them. Do you have a way to decompress from it all? Like, are you like, okay, once the chaos is over, I'm gonna go home and you have like X1? No. Cause I had a wedding like literally one week later. Which was pretty easy by the way. And you wore your belt to it. Yeah. I mean, I, every interviewer kept asking me, are you gonna wear your belt down there? I mean, I had to at that point. She loses what hat? Like, how has the wedding impacted? Yeah. I mean, it could have been impacted. I mean, I could have been Andrew walking down. I could have been walking down in crutches. Your wedding photos could have taken a very different vibe. I could have, you know, had a scar. Was that in the back of your mind? Pre-fight? Or are you like- I'm not pre-fight. I mean, no, you do what you have to win. Like at all costs, you know, or else I wouldn't take the fight. Cause it was an extra motivation where you're like, I'm getting married. I gotta look good. No, not really. No. I mean, it was definitely something I wanted, but it wasn't like, it didn't change my mentality because it's like, you can't hold back in a fight because, oh my God, I gotta look pretty in my pictures. We'll do the pictures again later. Like who cares? Like I gotta win. That's smart. You gotta do what you gotta do. Did you buy anything where you're like, I'm gonna go buy this. This is the thing. I'm gonna buy this. Like treat myself? Yeah, you treat yourself something nice. You know, normally I treat myself after every fight. Like with something, even if it's something for my house, like I bought a new AC one time, you know, whatever. But this Friday I haven't treated myself, but you know, I'm more in talks of getting a new house too. And I might go on like a little extra vacation with my girlfriend. But you should for sure. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's, I definitely like to treat myself, but I haven't, I haven't gone for it yet. Dude, what a legend. That's the craziest shit. I love your mindset. Honestly, it's like, it's like, I think people, I think you're saying it's so normal to you in terms of like you watch, you look for weaknesses, you improve. But I think like there's a real, the mindset of getting to the point of being able to see your own failures and being what I would call you like mega comfortable in that space and almost you look at it like, that's what's required. That's essential. It's not, you don't even think about it, right? You don't even, it's like so normal for you to be like, I am so bad at X, Y, Z. Let's go and let's go, let's fix it. I think that mindset is like so essential to people listening, to entrepreneurship, to business, to the athletic mind. And it's just like it's, but you say, I just love it. I love it because to you it's, you don't talk about it because it's so, it's so part of it that there's no reason to talk about it. It's like, yeah, why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you do that? Yeah, for sure. I love that. Well, listen, tell everyone where they can follow you or when your next fight is you're gonna, you're gonna put Owen in a headlock here in a second. So on Instagram, Twitter, KarlaSparza1 on my Facebook fan page, KarlaSparza. I don't really do my TikTok, but probably KarlaSparzaFB or something like that. I'm gonna get on it. I need some help from you youngsters now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, you guys can follow me there and I don't know when I'm fighting next, but I'll definitely post it on my social media. Right on. Well, thank you so much for coming to the Champ. Thank you. Thank you guys. Hey you. Yeah, you listening. Thank you so much for making it to the end of the episode. If you just can't get enough, check out our subscription on Apple Podcasts. For only 4.99 a month, you can listen to the full length, uncut, unedited podcast episodes. We're giving out life-changing advice for less than the price of your morning coffee. What a deal. Make sure to follow us on Instagram, subscribe on YouTube and we cannot wait to see you next week for another great episode. Cheers.