LAS VEGAS — Carla Esparza won the first women’s strawweight title fight Friday night in the UFC-based "The Ultimate Fighter" reality television show’s 20th season finale.
Esparza had a submission victory over Rose Namajunas in the third round.
Esparza largely controlled the first two rounds with her wrestling skills, taking down Namajunas multiple times and almost forcing the referee to stop the fight at the end of the second round. In the third, Esparza took down Namajunas early, softened her up with ground strikes and secured a rear-naked choke to force her to tap at 1:26.
On the undercard, lightweight Charles Oliveira controlled the first two rounds with multiple submission attempts and earned a unanimous decision victory over Jeremy Stephens.
The fight between Daron Cruickshank and K.J. Noons was declared a no contest when Cruickshank was poked in the eye in the second round, rendering him unable to continue.
Lightweight Yancy Medeiros beat Joe Proctor by guillotine choke in the first round, and Jessica Penne notched her first UFC victory with a decision victory over Randa Markos.
