Esparza Not Looking For More Than 3 Fights Per Year

“When I heard about Joanna, I actually heard about it the next day because she literally fought Claudia the day after I fought. So, it was already in my head that that was going to be my next fight. So I was just like, ‘Alright, I don’t want to think too much about her.’ But, I knew that she had great takedown defense, she has great striking. I mean, she knocked down Claudia in the first round and I’ve seen her knock down some other people. So, she’s definitely someone I feel could knock me out and I definitely want to impose my will in this fight and take it where I want it to go.”

“I would defend my title two, at most three times a year. Two because each camp for me isn’t just a straight six-to-eight week camp where it’s ‘OK, just start training.’ I like to have a couple months to just train without that pressure on me.

“It’s not like I don’t want to be training. I want to be training, I want to be growing, I want to be trying different things, training in the gi. When I’m getting ready for a fight, it’s more about focusing on someone specific and a specific gameplan.”

In a new interview with MMAJunkie.com, UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza explained her thoughts on keeping an active UFC schedule.

Thoughts?