Top UFC strawweight contenders Claudia Gadelha and Carla Esparza had a war of words this weekend as the two exchanged some heavy handed barbs on Instagram.
It all started when Carla Esparza said she was looking to sell the Harley Davidson motorcycle she had won on season 20 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. She claimed the reason for wanting to sell the bike was to make ends meet because a shoulder injury had kept her out of action and out of pocket for over a year. Esparza said she was offered a fight with Claudia Gadelha but she didn’t feel she’d knocked off enough ring rust to be able to compete having just come off a short notice bout with Juliana Lima this past April.
Upon seeing this Gadelha took to Instagram and tore into Esparza.
“What a weak fighter Carla is. She doesn’t want to fight the best, she makes excuses so she can get an easy fight,” Gadelha said. “I want to be the best. For my last fight, I asked to fight the best in the division. Unfortunately she don’t feel in the same way. Carla and other names in the division turned down the fight. I was left with no other option than Cortney (Casey). I took that fight with the promise that if I won, I would fight Carla. Now she is still refusing to fight me.”
Gadelha then went out of neutral and into fifth gear as she took some shots at Esparza current financial predicament.
“You want money little girl? Step in the Octagon and fight. I have the cars I want, two houses and money in the bank at 27 years old. You know why? Because I accept challenges. I fought twice in the last six months and I didn’t choose none of my fights and I will never choose,” Gadelha said. “I lost my fight for the title with pride and I was not waiting for a easy fight to get back in the win column. I was out for a year before fight for the title and you are talking about eight months out? The first thing I said when I talked to the matchmakers was: Please give me somebody on the top five! You can find excuses and run but you won’t disappear, I will see you soon.”
It didn’t take long for Esparza to take to Instagram, give a rebuttal and throw some shade of her own at Gadelha using the some history from their days in Invicta as examples of when the two were supposed to fight and it was the Brazilian who couldn’t make the walk on fight night.
“If I remember correctly, I showed up, weighed in, and stepped in the cage to fight you Claudia Gadelha — two times and you did not show up,” Esparza said. “The second time because you cut so much freaking weight that you went to the hospital. I also showed up on TUF 20 expecting to fight you — that makes it three times — and again, you did not show up. Why? Because you were too heavy to make the weight! Sorry if I walk around at 125lbs, and you get up to 155lbs. Too scared to fight people your own size?”
