Carla Esparza

Nobody hands you anything at women's strawweight. Carla Esparza — "Cookie Monster" to fight fans — has built a 20-8 record the hard way, one fight at a time since leaving the United States's regional scene.

The game is built on grappling: 3.3 takedowns per 15 minutes, and opponents spend rounds defending instead of fighting. 4 submission wins say what happens when the defense slips.

He's coming off a loss to Tecia Pennington. Careers aren't defined by the fall, though; they're defined by the rebound.

At 38, the window is what it is — which tends to make every remaining fight more honest, and more dangerous.