As women's MMA continues to make its meteoric rise in the world of televised sports - recently catapulted with the advent of a women's division to UFC, the all female promotion Invicta, will be holding its fourth event.

Gaining international attention with hundreds of thousands of online viewers (over 230,000 for the first, over 300,000 for the 2nd, and an even greater number on the thirrd event), the promotion earned "Story of the Year" on BJPenn.com's 2012 Women's MMA Awards, and the President/CEO of Invicta, Shannon Knapp, earned Best Contribution to Women's MMA.

Carla "Cookie Monster" Esparza (8-2, Team Oyama), one of the nominees for "Who to Look Out for in 2013", will be the main event, facing Bec "Rowdy" Hyatt (4-1 of Impact MMA in Australia) for the inaugural Strawweight Belt at Invicta 4, this Saturday, January 5, 2013, at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS.

Esparza, who has never been knocked out, has won her last three fights, which includes a unanimous decision against winner Felice Herrig. Hyatt gamely stepped up, as a late substitution for Claudia Gadelha (9-0 of Nova Uniao, Brazil), who was injured just a week out from the fight. But Hyatt is not to be taken lightly, having won her last four fights, after losing only her debut.

Esparza, originally from Redondo Beach, CA, grew up with the example of 2 hard-working parents, who split up when she was young, each giving her the example of hard work and responsibility, each working two jobs to provide for their only daughter, until – in a real life fairy tale – they got back together when she was in high school.

She was a gifted athlete, playing basketball, running track and for the last two years of high school, she was on the wrestling team, performing so well, she earned a 4-year wrestling scholarship to Menlo College. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree in Business with concentration on sports management, while wrestling for the university all 4 years.

Although Esparza hadn't set out to be a fighter, "I had always really liked combat sports." During her summer breaks, she decided to try other combat sports; during the summer of 2005, she did a little boxing, spending a few months at the reputable Broadway Gym in LA.

The following summer, she decided to try out Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and attended the Gracie Academy in Torrance, with Ryron, Rener, Ralek and Rorion Gracie. The following year, she found Team Oyama; "It's an MMA school which had BJJ, May Thai, MMA, everything that I wanted. His was where I found out what MMA was."

She began with cardio kickboxing, then moved on to Muay Thai, and talked to Coach Colin Oyama a bit, who told her about MMA. While in college, Esparza remained focused on school, training only during the breaks from school and the wrestling off-season. (Even if she had wanted to fight during school, she could not do so professionally and continue to wrestle, and that would have cost her the scholarship.)

When she finally finished her degree, she sustained an injury during training, which took her out for about 9 months. However, as soon as she was able, she jumped right back into training, and in another 5 months – with only a few grappling tournaments and no smokers or amateur fights – she made her professional MMA debut, Her coaches had seen her work in the gym and determined she was ready to go right to pro; she proved them right, winning by TKO in the first round, 3 years ago.

Her first loss was sustained against inarguably one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world, Megumi Fujii, on just 3 days notice, with one 3 fights to her career at that time. It was the chance of a lifetime, the opportunity to compete in a Bellator tournament, and her first appearance on TV. Even though she did not win that fight, her performance, on short notice and against such a seasoned fighter, was such that people took notice. Her only other loss, against Bellator fighter Jessica Aguilar, was a frustrating split decision loss in that fighter's hometown.

"I went into it, knowing it was a tough fight. Jessica was number two when she fought her, is number one now, and I just didn't impose my will, didn't do what I thought I should have. There really are no excuses, but I'd like a rematch, I've been calling her out since then. She even broke her foot in the fight, from one of my checked kicks, hometown. I want a rematch on neutral territory, but I don't think that will matter. I think I can finish her."

When Esparza was offered the title shot, she was also allowed some input about her contender. "Claudia had the better record of all the candidates; she was toughest opponent I could have, and I was really excited to fight her and show the world what I can do." Although she was devastated when Gadelha broke her nose a week out from the fight, she knows she must take Hyatt very seriously.

"I think she's definitely a fan favorite and has an exciting style; she likes to get in there and throw. I definitely can't take her lightly; I was in her same position just 2 years ago against Fujii. If I take her lightly, she's gonna flip it around on me. She's coming out to beat me, so I'm gonna show her respect her by giving it my all and bringing it to her." This title shot has been one of her biggest fight career goals, and "even if I win, it will always be hard work defending the title. I'm very happy with Invicta, and I plan to stay with them."

Esparza's full time job, for the last year, has been fighting; with very little time for hobbies or spare time activities. "Invicta has kept me so busy, that all I've been doing this last year is staying in camp and fighting. Normally, I do some promo work on the side, but there hasn't been any time lately."

Right after her fights, she likes to take a couple weeks of vacation, during which she usually finds a place to train and hone or learn new skills against fresh opponents. She also always finds time for her favorite pastime (and the reason for her fight name): eating cookies.

Esparza would like to thank her sponsors: Brawl-n-Maul Fight Gear, Alienware, Fear the Fighter, Battleware, OC Fight Docs, and Innovative Results. For more information on Invicta, visit their website www.invictafc.com.