A fan had dumped beer on Esparza’s head as the fighter made her way back to the locker room and Esparza is disappointed with the folks who attended the UFC event.
“That hurt my heart,” Esparza said in a post-fight news conference (via Nolan King & John Morgan of MMA Junkie). “It’s just unfortunate and I understand the Mexican fans are so passionate. They really stand behind their fighters. I’ve definitely fought in a lot of people’s hometown, but definitely this was the most passionate crowd I’ve ever been in front of. That sad thing was that there was a couple other bad seeds in the crowd. I was walking out and someone poured a beer on me. It made me really sad, because people win and lose, but you can’t control the judges and I felt that I fairly won the fight and it was really sad for me.”
There is no word yet on if security threw out or even identified the fan who allegedly dumped the beer on Esparza’s head.
Esparza also saw her post-fight speech drowned out by the jeering crowd, which made the fighter’s experience even worse.
“It put a damper on it, but I’ve been so welcomed by even a family here in Mexico who opened a home to me, their gym to me,” Esparza said. “There’s been so many amazing fans out here, so it doesn’t put a bad taste in my mouth for all of Mexico. I have Mexican blood, too. There’s so many amazing people out here, but like I said, it’s just unfortunate there are some bad apples in the crowd.”
