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WSOF women’s strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar was considered by many to be the most accomplished fighter in her weight class, prior to UFC launching their very own women’s 115-pound division. And now Aguilar seems to be on her way there to prove a point, a week after former UFC’s 115-pound women’s champion Carla Esparza accused her of taking performance enhancing drugs(PEDs).
Aguilar dropped a bombshell when she announced on The MMA Hour that she is no longer under contract with WSOF and is a free agent to sign a contract with any MMA promotion. It seems likely that UFC is to be her destination at as it will give her a chance to solidify her No 1 ranking. As far as the PED allegations, she denied Esparza’s claims and also ruled out her release from WSOF to get even with the former UFC Women’s Champion. Following is what she said:
"Well, I'm excited to be here as a free agent today, and I am looking forward to challenging myself against the best and proving why I'm the No. 1 ranked fighter in the world in my weight class. I haven't fought in a few months, and so my next step is to be the UFC champion. I've decided to become the next UFC champion and that's a part of consolidating my No. 1 ranking. UFC wasn't allowed to talk to me while I was under contract with WSOF, So, I've solved that issue for them.
I am now a free agent. I have not signed (with UFC yet)...I just want to prove why I am the No. 1 ranked fighter. I want to have fun and now the ball is in Dana's court. WSOF was amazing, I told them what I wanted and they granted me my release to do whatever I want. My goal is to be the No. 1 in my weight class, and that's in the UFC. I want to challenge myself against those ladies, I am excited and ready to have fun an defend what's mine."
"No that wasn't the reason, ain't nobody got time for that. She can say whatever she wants. My record speaks for itself. As far as the better fighter, hopefully she gets the chance to put her money where her mouth is soon. My record speaks for itself; and when I mean record, I mean my athletic commission record. There is nothing but clean results. So my message to Carla is, 'be real.' Sorry you keep losing to better fighters. How about congratulating somebody? Doing something good? Saying something good about them versus making excuses and making up stories about others.
That's just crazy. But, hopefully soon, she'll have the chance to put her money where her mouth is. So, that's where I'm at. I mean, how many excuses can you have? Carla, she is probably taking so many hits to the head. That's the only logical explanation to here head, I don't know. I know I get hit in the head a lot, but I don't act like that."
Aguilar last competed at WSOF 15 in November 2014, defeating Kalinda Faria via a unanimous decision to mark her second straight title defense. The win was also her tenth straight, cementing her place as the best fighter in the division. But now she’s officially a free agent and can put a stamp on her ranking by taking out the very best that UFC has to offer. Once the news of her release broke, WSOF President issued the following statement:
"We wish Jessica all the best, and hope that she will achieve everything she wants to in her career that is blossoming. We sat down with Jessica and her manager and we all agreed that she needs to move on to a place where she can compete against the best 115-pound women in the world. We have an incredible and fast-growing roster of world-class athletes at WSOF, but we do not have the best fighters in this particular women's weight class, so it was time to shake hands and amicably part ways."
Aguilar recently claimed that she matches up very well with current UFC Women's straw-weight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Fans around the world have the opportunity to find out if Aguilar is right to claim herself as the number one 115 pounder in the world. If not that, perhaps a grudge match against Esparza could be in order. Whatever it is, we’ll have to wait and see.
