
“I was putting all my eggs in one basket and fighting was everything,” Espinosa said. “Then I had a mentality switch after the first Nick Urso fight. After that, I was like, ‘Why the hell am I doing this? Why did I start, why did I get into this?’ To have fun and enjoy it and to enjoy life. If I’m doing this and hating it, there’s no point in even doing it. So now I have the mentality that, win or lose, it’s not the biggest deal in the world. There’s a lot more important things in life than fighting. So now, I’ve learned to enjoy the process and the journey instead of worrying about the results so much. And since I had that mentality switch, things have fallen into place.”
After that first clash, Espinosa went 3-1, then beat Urso on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. He didn’t get the UFC contract that night, but after beating CJ Hamilton in March, he was back on DWTNCS in July. This time, he stopped Rilley Dutro in the third around, and when the dust settled, he got signed to the UFC.
But he’s here now, 28 years old and ready to take on the flyweight division’s best.
Right on time.
“I’m excited just to challenge myself with the top flyweights in the world,” he said. “That’s fun to me and that motivates me.”
JORDAN ESPINOSA WITH THE BIG LEFT! pic.twitter.com/EWJU8mKlh8
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 11, 2018